MUMBAI: The rupee closed at 92.42/$, four paise firmer than 92.46, yet close to last week’s 92.48 record low. Losses stayed capped amid likely RBI support via state-run banks. Gulf tensions kept oil prices high, while US efforts to rally allies to secure Hormuz shipping lanes have made little headway. Brent crude rose over 1% to around $104.5 a barrel. Since the conflict began, oil has jumped more than 40%, delivering a terms-of-trade shock for the rupee, already weighed by a wide non-oil trade gap.
Middle East conflict: Oil companies seek advance payments from petrol pumps as global crude price surge squeezes margins
State-owned oil marketing companies have started asking petrol pump dealers to make advance payments for supplies of petrol and diesel, as refiners grapple with mounting revenue losses from retail fuel…