The rupee depreciated 23 paise to 75.82 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on Thursday as strengthening U.S. dollar and weak opening of domestic equity market weighed on investor sentiment.
Forex traders said risk appetite could remain weak as the U.S. Federal Reserve is projecting weak growth for 2020. Moreover, foreign fund outflows also dented market mood.
The rupee opened weak at 75.81 at the interbank forex market and fell further to 75.82 against U.S. dollar, down 23 paise over its last close.
It had settled at 75.59 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.
The U.S. Fed has cut its benchmark short-term rate to near zero and said it would keep interest rates low through 2022.
Meanwhile, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 114.04 points lower at 34,133.01 and broader NSE Nifty fell 26.65 points to 10,089.50.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth ₹919.26 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2.90% to USD 40.52 per barrel.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.37% to 96.31.
Meanwhile, investor sentiment remained fragile amid rising coronavirus cases across the world.
Globally, the number of cases linked to the disease has crossed 73.60 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.16 lakh.
In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 8,102 and the number of infections rose to 2,86,579, according to the health ministry.