Rupee drop 16 paise to 75.35 against US dollar in early trade

14 July: The rupee depreciated 16 paise into 75.35 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday monitoring weak national equities and strengthening American currency.

The rupee opened at 75.33 at the interbank foreign exchange market, then dropped earth and touched 75.35 from US dollar down 16 paise over its last close.

Forex dealers said steady crude oil prices and foreign fund inflows affirmed the rupee, while factors such as strong buck, negative domestic equities and increasing COVID-19 cases hauled the neighborhood unit down.

Additionally, investor sentiment diminished after India’s June Consumer Price Index (CPI) violated Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band of 6 per cent, traders said.

Retail inflation increased to 6.09 per cent in June, largely on account of higher costs of food items, government data showed on Monday.

Food inflation in June rose by 7.87 percent, according to the CPI data.

The dollar index, which signals the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.11 percent to 96.56.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 276.12 points reduced at 36,417.57 and broader NSE Nifty fell 80.90 points to 10,721.80.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market since they bought shares worth Rs 221.76 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange information.

Brent crude stocks, the worldwide oil benchmark, fell 2.01 per cent to USD 41.86 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of instances around the globe connected to COVID-19 has spanned 1.30 crore and the death toll has topped 5.72 lakh.

In India, the death toll due the disease rose to 23,727 and also the amount of infections crossed 9-lakh mark, according to the health ministry.