Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 8 paise to 82.14 against the US dollar in early trade Friday, weighed down foreign fund outflows and losses in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.12 against the dollar fell further to 82.14, registering a decline of 8 paise over its last close.
On Thursday, the rupee settled at 82.06 against the US dollar.
“The 81.70-80 zone seems protected by the importer’s dollar demand and suspected RBI intervention, which brought the INR back to 82.00 levels,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.
Moreover, the March seasonality due to the financial year end and prospects of further FDI flows could help the rupee limit losses, despite weaker Asian peers over the past month, Pabari added.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.11 per cent to 105.18.
“The DXY weakened from 105.70 to 105.20 as traders booked profits on the back of increased unemployment claims data overnight,” Pabari said, adding that Friday is set for Make-or-Break day for the DXY, ahead of the key US economic data due later in the day.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.54 per cent to USD 81.15 per barrel.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 792.66 points or 1.33 per cent lower at 59,013.62 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 200.35 points or 1.14 per cent to 17,389.25 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 561.78 crore, according to exchange data.