Rupee slips below 75/USD level in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee opened on a weak note and fell below the 75 per US dollar level in early trade on Friday as rising crude prices and strength of the American currency in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 75, then fell further to 75.15, registering a decline of 36 paise from its last close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.79 against the US dollar.

On the macroeconomic front, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent, but maintained an accommodative stance even as the economy is showing signs of recovery after the second COVID wave.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said MPC voted unanimously for keeping interest rate unchanged and decided to continue with its accommodative stance as long as necessary to support growth and keep inflation within the target.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 94.23.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,764.25 crore, as per exchange data.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 327.37 points or 0.55 per cent higher at 60,005.20. The broader NSE Nifty was trading 103.35 points or 0.58 per cent up at 17,893.70.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.10 per cent to USD 82.85 per barrel.