Rupee opens lower by 10 paise against US dollar

Mumbai, Mar 29 (PTI) The rupee declined by 10 paise to 82.26 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday due to firm crude oil prices and a stronger greenback in overseas markets.

Early gains in domestic stock markets however restricted the rupee losses against the dollar.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 82.26 against the previous close of 82.16.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rebounded by 0.15 per cent to 102.58 in early Asian trade.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures firmed up by 0.19 per cent to USD 78.80 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 123.64 points or 0.21 per cent to 57,737.36 while NSE Nifty gained 53.70 points or 0.32 per cent to 17,005.40 in early trade.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital market on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 1,531.13 crore, according to exchange data.