Finance
In early trade on Monday, the rupee fell 19 paise to 82.94 against the US dollar, weighed down by a strong US currency and a flat trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.87 against the dollar, then fell further to 82.94, a 19-paise drop from its previous close.
The rupee had previously settled at 82.75 against the dollar in the previous session on Friday.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the US currency against a basket of six currencies, increased 0.04 percent to 105.25.
According to forex traders, the Indian rupee fell due to weak domestic markets and a strong dollar. Rebounding crude oil prices weighed on the rupee as well.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, fell 0.38 percent to USD 82.84 per barrel.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 159.67 points, or 0.27 percent, lower at 59,300.22 in the domestic equity market. The NSE Nifty fell 46.90 points, or 0.27 percent, to 17,418.90.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday, offloading shares worth Rs 1,470.34 crore.
On the domestic macroeconomic front, India’s forex reserves fell by USD 5.681 billion to USD 561.267 billion in the week ending February 17, according to the Reserve Bank of India on Friday.
Source:BS
