Rupee falls 5 paise to 82.86 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Mar 14 (PTI) The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 82.86 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the strength of the American currency, foreign fund outflows, and elevated crude oil prices in the international market dented investors’ sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.84 against the dollar and touched an early low of 82.86 in initial trade, registering a fall of 5 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.81 against the US dollar.

“Rupee weakened on Wednesday as the sentiment was dampened by a sell-off in equities. Nevertheless, rupee is still the best performing Asian currency in 2024 so far, having strengthened 0.4 per cent against the US dollar,” IFA Global Research Academy said in a research note.

Rupee is likely to trade in the 82.75-82.90 range with sideways price action, the note added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 102.85, higher by 0.06 per cent.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.23 per cent to USD 84.22 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 99.2 points, or 0.14 per cent, lower at 72,662.69 points. The broader NSE Nifty was down 6.70 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 21,991.00 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 4,595.06 crore, according to exchange data.