Mumbai: The Indian rupee depreciated 7 paise to 74.95 against the US dollar in opening trade Tuesday as firm American currency and weak domestic equities weighed on investor sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.93 against the dollar, then fell further to 74.95, registering a fall of 7 paise over its previous close.
On Monday, the rupee had settled at 74.88 against the US dollar.
According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors, “It is risk aversion all the way” and the range for USD-INR for today is 74.70 to 75.10.
“We should see some resistance around these levels as dollar buying remains the theme. (Market participants) will continue to buy the dips as RBI protects the higher levels. Importers to buy the dips near to 74.70/75 and exporters to sell near to 75.10 as market awaits US monetary policy on 28th,” Bhansali said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading down 0.01 per cent at 92.88.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.09 per cent to USD 68.68 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 233.61 points or 0.44 per cent lower at 52,319.79, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 71.80 points or 0.46 per cent to 15,680.60.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,198.71 crore, as per exchange data.