Rupee slumps 33 paise to 74.74 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated 33 paise to 74.74 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking strong American currency ahead of the US Presidential election results.

The local unit opened at 74.74 against the greenback at the interbank forex market, down 33 paise over its last close. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 74.41 against the American currency.

"Most of the Asian currencies have started weak against the US Dollar this Wednesday morning and could weigh on sentiments," Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Traders said most Asian currencies opened weak against the US Dollar Index, which started with gains on Wednesday morning in Asian trade ahead of the US Presidential election results.

Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has maintained his lead mid-way through the counting of votes, as Republican incumbent Donald Trump appeared to be fast catching up.

As per Fox News, Biden has 207 of the 538 electoral college seats, while Trump has 148. On the other hand, CNN has projected 192 electoral college votes to Biden and 108 to Trump.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.32 per cent to 93.85.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 146.60 points higher at 40,407.73, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 32.60 points to 11,846.10.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,274.40 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.14 per cent to USD 40.56 per barrel.