Dollar closed at 70.53 against its opening of 70.14. Dollar/rupee ended higher in both onshore and offshore markets during afternoon on likely FII outflows from the local stocks and concerns over escalating trade tension between the US and China. Foreign banks including Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan Chase are on the buy side and FIIs are pulling out of local equities. Oil bids are also supporting the spot. The US and China remained deadlocked after Sunday's trade negotiations in Washington as the US demanded promises of concrete changes to Chinese law and China said it would not swallow any "bitter fruit" that harmed its interests. The trade conflict escalated on Friday, with the US raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Adding to that, the worsening Iran-US relations turned market sentiments jittery. The US military has deployed forces, including an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers, to the Middle East in a move US officials said was to counter the threats from Iran to its troops in the region
Sensex fell 372 points to 37,090 while Nifty ended 1.2% lower at 11,148.