The Indian rupee on Friday hit its lowest in more than eight months and breached the 72-mark against the dollar in opening trade because of heavy losses in stock markets, PTI reported.

The currency opened at 71.93 and touched a low of 72.05 soon after – the weakest level since December 14, according to Reuters. It recovered later to trade higher by 12 paise at 71.69 against the dollar at 4.10 pm.

On Thursday, the rupee had plunged 26 paise to end the day at 71.81 against the dollar.

The BSE Sensex closed 228.23 points higher at 36,701.16. The National Stock exchange Nifty gained 88 points to finish at 10,829.35.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Vedanta, Yes Bank, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Coal India. The top losers were IndusInd Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever and Power Grid Corporation.

The biggest gainers on the Nifty were Zee Entertainment, Vedanta, UPL, Yes Bank and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. The five stocks which declined the most were IndusInd Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors and Hindustan Unilever.

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