Rupee declines 16 paise to 75.17 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 16 paise to 75.17 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday tracking weakness in Asian peers even as domestic equities started on a positive note.

The rupee opened weak at 75.13 at the interbank forex market, then lost further ground and touched 75.17 against the US dollar, down 16 paise over its previous close of 75.01.

Forex traders said, while firm start of the equity market and foreign fund inflows supported the rupee, factors like weak Asian currencies and rising COVID-19 cases dragged down the local unit.

"Asian currencies were weak against the US dollar this morning and weighed on the domestic unit," Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which



gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.07 per cent to 93.48.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 356 points higher at 37,295.60 and broader NSE Nifty rose 100.30 points to 10,991.90.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 7,818.49 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.79 per cent to USD 43.80 per barrel.