Rupee falls 12 paise to 82.77 against US dollar

Mumbai, Mar 16 (PTI) The rupee fell for the fourth day in a row on Thursday and depreciated by 12 paise to 82.77 (provisional) against the US dollar amid mixed global equity market cues and foreign fund outflows.

Traders said positive sentiments in the domestic equity market and weaker dollar, however, resisted the decline in the Indian currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened lower at 82.77 against the dollar. It traded between 82.60 and 82.80 levels, and settled at 82.77 (provisional) against the American currency, registering a fall of 12 paise against its previous close.

This is the fourth consecutive day of decline in the rupee. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.65 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.25 per cent to 104.38.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.23 per cent to USD 74.60 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 78.94 points or 0.14 per cent to 57,634.84 points while the broader NSE Nifty rose 13.45 points or 0.08 per cent to 16,985.60 points.

On Thursday, Asian and European shares were trading on a mixed note against the backdrop of concerns over the health of the global banking system in the wake of bank failures in the US and problems at Swiss major Credit Suisse.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the domestic capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,271.25 crore, according to exchange data.