Rupee drops past 87/USD as Trump tariffs rattle Asian currencies

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FILE PHOTO: A man counts Indian currency notes inside a shop in Mumbai, India, August 13, 2018. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo

MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian rupee weakened past 87 per U.S. dollar for the first time on Monday, as Asian currencies slumped after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on the country’s largest trading partners, driving a surge in the U.S. dollar.

The rupee dropped 0.5% to a low of 87.07 in early trade, with traders expecting the currency to face further losses throughout the day.

Trump, in three executive orders in the weekend, imposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and most Canadian imports, and 10% on goods from China, starting on Tuesday.

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The dollar index was up 0.3% at 109.8, while Asian currencies weakened, with the offshore Chinese yuan – a closely watched counterpart of the rupee – down 0.5% at 7.35 per U.S. dollar.

 

(Reporting by Jaspreet Kalra; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)