The Indian rupee opened flat at 75.50 per dollar on Wednesday amid easing crude oil prices and a strong US currency in overseas markets.
Where positive domestic markets aided the Indian currency, strong US currency and continued foreign fund outflows capped early gains of the local unit. Concerns over rising COVID-19 cases also weighed on investor sentiment, traders said.
The domestic unit today opened flat at 75.50 per dollar and later fell 4 paise lower at 75.54 against the US currency as compared to its previous close of 75.50 on Tuesday.
Market participants will also be keeping an eye on the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data figures, scheduled to be released today.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers on Tuesday, offloading equities worth Rs 2,000.08 crore, as per the provisional exchange data.
Meanwhile, the dollar index that measures the greenback against six currencies was trading 0.06% higher, having risen as much as 0.09 per cent earlier.
India's federal fiscal deficit in the first two months through May stood at Rs 4.66 trillion ($61.67 billion), or 58.6 per cent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year.
Brent crude futures were trading 1.2% higher at $41.75 per barrel today.
Crude oil prices today rose more than 1% on the back of data that showed inventories in the US declined much more than expected, suggesting demand is improving even as the coronavirus outbreak spreads around the world.
Worldwide, there are currently 10,591,470 confirmed cases and 514,050 deaths from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.
India registered the highest single-day COVID-19 deaths at 507 on Wednesday with 18,653 new infections, taking the total tally to 5,85,493, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
Share Market LIVE: Sensex rises 250 points, Nifty at 10,350; Axis Bank, BPCL, ITC top gainers
Vodafone Idea share price slips 5% on Rs 11,644 crore Q4 loss
Bharti Airtel share gains over 2% as Carlyle to invest Rs 1,780 crore in telco's data centre arm