Rupee slumps 35 paise to 74.76 against US dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated 35 paise to close at 74.76 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking strong American currency ahead of the US Presidential election results.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.74 against the greenback and finally settled at 74.76, down 35 paise over its last close.

During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 74.57 and a low of 74.90 against the dollar. On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 74.41 against the US currency.

The closely-fought US presidential election appeared to be headed into an uncertain phase with Republican incumbent Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden fighting it out in the key battleground states.

When reports last came in, Biden had earned 220 electoral college votes, with Trump following closely with 213 votes.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.35 per cent to 93.88. On the domestic equity market front, BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 237.42 points higher at 40,498.55, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 60.90 points to 11,874.40.

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 0.38 per cent to USD 39.86 per barrel.