The rupee fell 24 paise to 76.43 against the US dollar at the open on Monday, following dollar strength and elevated crude oil prices. In the interbank exchange rate, the rupee opened on a subdued note at 76.41 against the US dollar, then fell and hit an early low of 76.43 in early trading, posting a 24 paise drop from its close. previous.
On Wednesday, the rupee fell 4 paise to close at 76.19 against the US dollar. The forex market was closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti and on Friday due to Good Friday.
Meanwhile, futures for Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.97 percent to $112.78 a barrel. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 percent to 100.67.
“The US dollar started stronger this Monday morning in Asian trade, as more aggressive comments from Federal Reserve officials reinforced expectations of a faster tightening of US policy,” said Sriram Iyer, analyst senior research fellow at Reliance Securities. Hardliners at the Fed and dovish European Central Bank (ECB) continued to push the dollar and bond yields higher and will weigh on sentiment.
“Asian and emerging market pairs were weaker against the US dollar on Monday morning and may weigh on sentiment,” Iyer noted. On the domestic stock market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 941.21 points, or 1.61 percent lower, at 57,397.72, while the broader NSE Nifty was down 245.00 points, or 1.4 percent. percent, to 17,230.65.
Overseas institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they dumped Rs 2,061.04 crore worth of shares, according to stock exchange data.