New Delhi: The rupee has fallen to a new record low of 96.47 against the US dollar in intraday trade today.There is slump in market sentiment as concerns around rising crude oil prices reign amidst Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “austerity” call. Tensions in West Asia, which continue even though US president Donald Trump has claimed that he is desisting from attacking Iran anew on Gulf states’ request, have had a profound impact on an already sagging rupee.However, the rupee has been sliding for seven consecutive sessions so far and has been Asia’s worst-performing currency of the year.The Times of India has quoted Anuj Choudhary, analyst of Commodities Research at Mirae Asset Sharekhan as having said that the trend appears set for now. “We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias amid a strong dollar and rising US treasury yields. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and FII outflows may also pressure the rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI and certain restrictions on the import of gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 96 to 96.60,” Choudhary is quoted as having said.The Wire has reported that the Indian rupee has experienced a significant decline against the Pakistani rupee over the past 12 months, a period that coincided with the announcement of ceasefire by US President Donald Trump after the 88-hour-long Operation Sindoor in May 2025. On May 15, 2025, the exchange rate stood at 3.2913 Pakistani rupee per Indian rupee, but by May 18, 2026, the rate had fallen to 2.9010 Pakistani rupee per Indian rupee.This represents a depreciation of approximately 11.86%, with a 6.8% fall in the year 2026 alone, the report finds.Meanwhile, Moneycontrol reports how India has crossed another unwelcome milestone. “For the first time in years, not a single Indian company figures among the world’s top 100 listed firms by market capitalisation — a measure of how deeply and relentlessly the selloff in domestic equities has cut,” the report says.The decline has been sharpest among India’s top technology stocks.At Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the problem was unemployment and inflation and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should address these.“Prime Minister Modi should understand that the real problem is unemployment and inflation. In the coming times, there will be a problem with fertilizers. But I don’t know in which world Narendra Modi is living; he’s turned it into a joke. It is Narendra Modi’s responsibility to protect the country’s labourers, farmers, youth, poor people, and small business owners,” Gandhi told reporters.“We have been continuously telling Narendra Modi that a storm is coming. Take concrete steps and secure the country, but he is doing something entirely different,” he added.As Modi called for austerity from Indians, petrol and diesel prices were hiked afresh by around 90 paise per litre today May 19, the second increase in less than a week as state-run oil companies ended a nearly four-year pause on fuel price revisions.