Rupee falls 6 paise to 82.01 against US dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee fell 6 paise to 82.01 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by foreign fund outflows and a negative trend in domestic equities. In interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.00 against the dollar, then eased to 82.01, registering a decline of 6 paise at its last close.

On Tuesday, the rupee was at 81.95 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 percent to 101.82.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were up 0.37 percent at US$81.07 a barrel.

“The downsides of increasing confusion on the global front amid geo-political concerns and the sudden shift in on and off mode are not healthy for the currency.

“However, from a near-term perspective, the pair is squeezed between 81.80-82.20 and needs to push above 82.20 to take the pair towards 82.50-82.80 levels,” said Amit Babari, MD, CR Forex Advisors.

In the domestic bourse, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading down 157.29 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 59,973.42. The broader NSE Nifty was down 50.30 points, or 0.28 per cent, at 17,718.95.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they bought Rs. 407.35 crore worth of stocks were carried, exchange data showed.