Indian Rupee weakened to 75.2830

The Indian rupee weakened towards 75.28 tracking a strong US dollar and a surge in crude oil prices as tensions continued to escalate between Russia and Ukraine.

Investors rushed towards the safety assets after Russia announced to put its nuclear deterrent forces on high alert in response to the fresh sanctions imposed by the West on Russia.

The West cut Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system and is also set to target the Russian Central Bank’s international reserves.

At the same time, global crude oil prices skyrocketed after Putin’s decision, creating upward pressure on India’s trade deficit and inflation as the country imports two-thirds of its oil needs.

Elsewhere, the euro tumbled as much as 1.3% to $1.112,before recovering a little to trade at $1.1165.It was also down 0.9% on the yen and was off 0.7% versus the Swiss franc.

However, the dollar was the main beneficiary of the tension around Ukraine. The dollar index was at 97.244, up from Friday's close of 96.570.

Markets are now pricing in a 95% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike rates by 25 basis points at its March meeting, according to the CME'S Fed watch tool, with the invasion having put an end to speculation that the fed will jump in with a 50 basis point hike.

In cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin was the middle of its recent range trading $38,000.