The rupee was down 26 paises against the US dollar on Monday to close at 76.68 (prelim), following a strong greenback abroad and a lackluster trend in domestic stock markets.
In the interbank FX market, the rupee opened lower at 76.58 against the US currency and ended up trading at 76.68 for the day, down 26 paise from its previous close.
During the trading session, the rupee posted a daily high of 76.55 and a low of 76.77.
On Friday the rupee had closed 25 paise lower at 76.42.
Meanwhile, the Dollar Index, which gauges the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, traded 0.34% higher to 101.56.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 4.38% to $101.98 a barrel.
The 30-stock BSE Sensex closed 617.26 points, or 1.08%, lower at 56,579.89, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 218 points, or 1.27%, to 16,953.95.
“The Indian rupee fell on Monday amid risk-off sentiment in global markets. There are heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates by 50 basis points at the upcoming FOMC meeting next week, according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech last week.
“More aggressive rate hikes are expected in the coming months as well,” said Praveen Singh, BNP Paribas’ AVP-Fundamental Currencys and Commodities analyst Sharekhan.
Substantial outflows of foreign funds have also weakened the domestic currency, while the sharp fall in crude oil prices has cushioned the rupee’s downward movement.
“We expect the rupee to remain under pressure on deteriorating global risk sentiment due to escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the hawkish US Federal Reserve. Concerns about the resurgence of COVID-19 could also weigh on the rupee. The rupee could trade in the £76-77.20 range in the next few sessions,” added Mr Singh.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday, selling 2,461.72 crore of shares, according to stock market data.
