Mumbai, Mar 20 (PTI) The rupee crashed 64 paise to settle at an all-time low of 93.53 against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by persistent foreign fund outflows and a steep rise in crude oil prices amid mounting geopolitical tensions.

Forex traders said the Indian rupee is under tremendous pressure as surging crude oil prices and a shift toward risk-aversion dented investor sentiments.

Moreover, heightened geopolitical uncertainty risks are driving energy costs higher, which could widen the trade deficit and stoke inflationary pressures, they added.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 92.92 against the greenback and soon breached the 93-mark for the first time. It kept losing ground through the session and eventually settled at 93.53, down 64 paise from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee slumped 49 paise to close at its previous record low of 92.89 against the US dollar.

Forex markets were closed on Thursday on account of Gudhi Padwa.

"The Indian rupee resumed its downward spiral to fresh record lows following Thursday’s holiday, battered by a 'double whammy' of persistent foreign fund outflows and surging crude oil prices," said Dilip Parmar, Senior Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further noted that "while geopolitical volatility remains a key driver for short-term sentiment, the USDINR technical setup remains bullish; having breached ascending channel resistance, the pair eyes a 93.75 level with support shifting to 92.90." Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.37 per cent higher at 99.60.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at USD 108.62 per barrel in futures trade.

Forex traders said the third week of the Iran conflict has triggered severe global energy supply concerns, with the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for the energy supply located between Iran and Oman, largely closed, crude oil prices are witnessing a sharp uptrend and is causing widespread inflation fears.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rebounded from Thursday's crash, and was up 325.72 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 74,532.96, while Nifty rose 112.35, or 0.49 per cent, to 23,114.50 points.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 5,518.39 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves dropped USD 7.052 billion to USD 709.759 billion during the week ended March 13, the RBI said on Friday.

In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had dropped USD 11.683 billion to USD 716.81 billion. The kitty jumped USD 4.885 billion to an all-time high of USD 728.494 billion during the week ended February 27. PTI TRB DRR