Rupee weakens 9 paise against dollar in opening trade

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 9 paise against the US dollar to 65.03 against in opening trade today as the greenback firmed up ahead of US Federal Reserve’s policy meet this week. A strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflow weighed on the domestic unit amid rising current account deficit in the December quarter, a currency dealer said.

The current account deficit rose to 2 per cent of the GDP at 878.51₹ billion in the December quarter, up from 520.60₹ billion or 1.4 per cent in the year-ago period, on the back of higher trade deficit, RBI data showed. On Friday, the rupee had ended 1 paisa lower at 64.94 against the US dollar.

Foreign investors withdrew a net Rs 150.46 crore from stocks on Friday, according to provisional data. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex, after falling for four straight sessions, rebounded 99.79 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 33,275.79 in opening trade today.