Rupee falls 15 paise to 74.23 against U.S. dollar in early trade

On June 17, the rupee had settled at 74.08 against the U.S. dollar.

The Indian rupee slumped 15 paise to 74.23 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on June 18 as the U.S. dollar extended gains, a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised markets with its hawkish statement.

Forex traders said muted domestic equities also weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 74.10 against the dollar and lost further ground to touch 74.23, registering a fall of 15 paise over its previous close.

On June 17, the rupee had settled at 74.08 against the U.S. dollar.

The rupee started on a weaker note this Friday against the greenback as the U.S. dollar extended gains a day after the Fed’s hawkish statement, Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Further, Asian currencies have started flat to weaker against the greenback this morning and will weigh on sentiments, the note said adding the Reserve Bank of India could be present to curb volatility in the markets.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally lower at 91.87 down 0.02%.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.77% to $72.52 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 185.96 points or 0.36% lower at 52,137.37, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 71.25 points or 0.45% to 15,620.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on June 17 as they offloaded shares worth ₹879.73 crore, as per exchange data.

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