Rupee falls 19 paise to 74.09 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee declined by 19 paise to 74.09 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on January 14, as muted domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.

Forex traders said the local unit fell following more hawkish comments by Federal Reserve officials.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 74.05 against the U.S. dollar, then fell further to 74.09 against the greenback in early deals, registering a decline of 19 paise from the last close.

On January 13, the rupee rose 3 paise to close at 73.90 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.11% to 94.68.

“Equities are slightly down on Friday but will get bought on dips. European currencies are generally up against the dollar, but the dollar index should find support near to 94.50 for a rally back to 97.00 as most U.S. FED officials are favouring a rate hike in March itself,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 0.08% to USD 84.40 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 189.73 points or 0.31% lower at 61,045.57, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 42.80 points or 0.23% to 18,215.00.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on January 13, as they offloaded shares worth ₹1,390.85 crore, as per exchange data.