Rupee slumps 26 paise to 76.10 against USD in early trade

Mumbai, March 21 (PTI): The rupee declined 26 paise to 76.10 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, following its Asian peers after crude oil prices and the American dollar reversed their recent declines.

Besides, a lacklustre trend in domestic equities also weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.08 against the US dollar, then slipped further to 76.10, registering a decline of 26 paise from the last close.

On Thursday, the rupee spurted by 37 paise to close at 75.84 against the US dollar.

The forex market was closed on Friday on account of Holi.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 3.10 per cent to USD 111.28 per barrel.

The Indian Rupee opened weak against the US dollar as crude oil prices and the dollar reversed some of their recent declines, said Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

Moreover, most of the Asian currencies have started weaker and will also weigh on sentiments, Iyer noted.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.08 per cent to 98.31.

The US Dollar has bounced back from recent declines as Federal Reserve officials said the central bank may need to be more aggressive to deal with inflation, Iyer said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 213.2 points or 0.37 per cent lower at 57,650.73, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 61.10 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 17,225.95.

Amid intensifying the Russia-Ukraine conflict, investors assessed diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the war.

Foreign institutional investors remained net gainers in the capital market on Thursday as they purchased shares worth INR 2,800.14 crore, according to stock exchange data.