The rupee depreciated 8 paise to settle at 74.27 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking muted domestic equities and strong American currency.
At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.28 against the US dollar and touched an intra-day high of 74.22 and a low of 74.33. It finally closed at 74.27 against the greenback, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 74.19 against the US dollar.
Forex traders said, the rupee is trading in a narrow range as rising COVID-19 cases in the US and Europe offset positive sentiments surrounding the progress on the vaccine front.
American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech said they have concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.33% to 92.62.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex closed 580.09 points lower at 43,599.96, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 166.55 points to 12,771.70.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹ 3,071.93 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.70% to USD 44.03 per barrel.