Rupee plummets 61 paise to dollar on Rajan's exit as RBI governor

Rupee nosedived by 61 paise to 67.69 against the dollar in the opening trade on Monday after RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said no to a second term in the post.

Forex dealers said besides lower opening in the domestic equity market, fresh demand for the US currency from importers also put pressure on the rupee.

They said, however, the dollar's weakness against some currencies overseas, restricted the rupee's losses.

On Friday, rupee had recovered 13 paise to 67.08 against the US unit on account of fresh selling by bankers and exporters and recovery in stock markets.

On Saturday, Rajan said no to a second term in the post, a surprise decision the industry and opposition parties termed as nation's loss.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 178.03 points or 0.66 per cent to 26,447.88 in early trade on Monday.