Rupee falls 12 paise to 82.35 against U.S. dollar in early trade

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The rupee depreciated by 12 paise to 82.35 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on March 14, amid stronger dollar and foreign fund outflow from the domestic equity market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened lower at 82.27 against the dollar and rose to 82.24 before slipping to 82.35.

On Monday, the rupee settled at 82.23 against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies rose 0.26% to 103.86.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.08% to $79.90 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 36.50 points or 0.06% higher at 58,274.35 points while the broader NSE Nifty was up 38.85 points or 0.23% to 17,193.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they offloaded shares worth ₹1,546.86 crore, according to exchange data.

The collapse of two banks in the U.S. — Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — have raised concerns about the health of the financial system even as American regulators are taking steps to control the situation.

Against this backdrop, some analysts also feel that the U.S. Federal Reserve might opt for a slower interest rate hike even as inflation remains high.

On the domestic front, retail inflation fell marginally to 6.44% in February but remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort level of 6% for the second month in a row.