The Rupee opened to a record low on Monday, as a sharp surge in global oil prices fuelled by the widening ?Middle East conflict deepened concerns over India's external balances, while traders were on ?alert for potential central bank intervention. The ?roughly 50% surge in oil prices has been driven by the expanding U.S.-Israeli ?conflict with Iran, which has prompted some major Middle East producers to cut supplies and raised fears of prolonged disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran on Monday named Mojtaba ?Khamenei to succeed his father, Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader, signalling that ?hardliners remain firmly in charge in Tehran a week into its conflict with the ?United ?States and Israel and raising the likelihood of a prolonged war. The RBI had stepped into the market last week to temper the rupee's decline, and market participants expect ?the ?central bank to remain active if depreciation pressures intensify. U.S. ?equity futures dropped more than 2%, while Japanese and South Korean shares led losses across Asian ?markets with declines of roughly 6.5%. The dollar surged on Monday as soaring oil prices ?sent investors scrambling for cash on worries that a protracted Middle East war could severely disrupt energy supplies and hurt ?global growth. Against the surging greenback, the euro and sterling were down roughly 1% in Asia, while the Aussie and even the safe-haven Swiss franc similarly tumbled, as the dollar proved king. The euro last traded 0.9% lower at $1.1517, having slid to a 3-1/2-month low earlier in the session, while sterling slid 1% to $1.3294. Against ?the Swiss franc , the dollar was up 0.75% at 0.7817. The Australian and New Zealand dollars slid 0.77% and 0.5%, respectively. Analysts have said ?Asia could bear the brunt of the energy price shock, due to the region's heavy reliance on oil and gas from the Middle East. The dollar was ?a whisker ?away from the 159 yen level in Asia, rising 0.55% to 158.70 , and it jumped 1% against the South Korean won to 1,496.40. Share markets nosedived in Asia on Monday as the inflationary shock from surging oil prices threatened to raise living ?costs and perhaps interest rates across the globe, while an investor hunger for liquidity kept the U.S. dollar in demand. Brent soared 23% to $114.36 a barrel, the biggest ?daily gain since at least 1988, which came on top of a 28% rise last week. U.S. crude shot up a staggering 27% to $115.11, threatening to push petrol prices quickly skyward.......