Mumbai, March 12: The Indian Rupee fell by 82 paise against the US Dollar in the opening trade on Thursday. The Rupee breached 74-mark and plunged to 74.50 in the early trade. It crossed the all-time low of 74.48 against the US dollar, which it hit on October 11, 2018. The fall in the Indian currency is due to the outbreak of coronavirus across the globe. In the opening trade, the Rupee fell over one percent. Sensex Plunges 1700 Points, Nifty Goes Below 9,500 As WHO Declares Coronavirus a 'Pandemic'.

According to a report published in Bloomberg Quint, the selling has been led by outflows by foreign portfolio investors, who sold Rs 11,200 crore ( USD 1.5 billion) of debt and equities so far in March. On Thursday, Sensex also plunged sharply after global markets become weak following the World Health Organisation declaring the novel coronavirus outbreak a "pandemic".

The Sensex was trading at 33,996.97, down 1,700 points (4.76 percent). Nifty, on the other hand, was at 9,942.75, down 4.93 percent at 9:30 am. Nifty50 index breached the psychological mark of 10,000 today for the first time since March 26, 2018. Coronavirus Outbreak: Donald Trump Says 'US Will Suspend All Travel From Europe to US For Next 30 Days' to Control the Spread of COVID-19.

Till now, India has recorded as many as 60 cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile, there are 119,400 confirmed cases of coronavirus reported across the globe. Over 4,000 people lost their lives due to the deadly virus. China recorded the highest number of casualties, as over 3,000 died due to COVID-19, followed by Italy with over 800 deaths. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also declared coronavirus a "pandemic".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2020 10:14 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).