Rupee slumps 26 paise to close at 73.74 against US dollar

Mumbai, Sep. 20 (PTI): The Indian rupee dived 26 paise to close at a near four-week low of 73.74 against the US dollar on Monday as weaker Asian peers and massive sell-offs in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 73.82 and finally settled for the day at 73.74 a dollar, down 26 paise over its previous close.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.27 per cent higher at 93.44.

“The Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar, amid weak risk appetite in the region, pushing investors towards the safety of the dollar,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Most of the emerging market and Asian currencies were weak this Monday, weighed down by the worries about Chinese property developer Evergrande’s solvency, Iyer said, adding that the broad decline in Asian and domestic shares also rubbed off on the local unit.

According to Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, the rupee traded weak and at par with global currencies as against the dollar index, amid concerns over major Chinese developer Evergrande’s solvency.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.79 per cent to USD 73.99 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 524.96 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 58,490.93, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 188.25 points or 1.07 per cent to 17,396.90.