Rupee slumps 24 paise to 74.79 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee declined 24 paise to 74.79 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, amid weak risk appetite as tensions escalated in eastern Europe.

Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows, a lackluster trend in domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.71 against the US dollar, then slipped further to 74.79, registering a decline of 24 paise from the last close.

“Crude oil prices surged higher this Tuesday morning, while most of the Asian and emerging market peers were weaker against the US Dollar as the Ukraine crisis could escalate further,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.12 percent to 96.19.

“The US Dollar started flat to higher this early Tuesday morning in Asian trade, amid safe-haven appeal for the greenback as Russia ordered troops into breakaway parts of eastern Ukraine and the region stood on the brink of war,” Iyer said, adding that non-dollar currencies remained under pressure early Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 1.42 percent to USD 96.74 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 922.71 points or 1.60 percent lower at 56,760.88, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 267.50 points, or 1.55 percent, to 16,939.15.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,261.90 crore, as per stock exchange data.