Mumbai: The Indian rupee fell 24 paise on Monday to 74.33 against the US dollar in the opening trade, following weak domestic equities and strong US currency.
Forex traders said concern over rise COVID-19 cases and outflows of foreign funds also weighed the sentiment of investors.
On the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened against the dollar lower at 74.25 and further lost ground and hit 74.33, which recorded a decline of 24 pa compared to the previous close.
On Friday, the rupee closed against the US dollar at 74.09.
Abdishek Goenka, Founder and CEO of IFA Global, opened Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global, on a weekly note on the strength of the dollar and the weaker than expected performance of BJP in state elections.
Goenka further said that “it is likely that a 74.15-74.45 series will be traded intraday with an upward bias”.
The key trigger for the markets could be CPI and IIP numbers this week, Reliance Securities said in a research note, adding that volumes could be low this week as Chinese investors and traders will be away from the markets due to the break from Labor Day 3 to 5 May this week.
The 30-share BSE Sensex traded 363.46 points or 0.75 percent lower at 48,418.90.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 85.15 points or 0.58 percent to 14,545.95.
The daily COVID-19 cases in India showed a slight decrease with 3,68,147 new coronavirus infections are reported within a day, bringing the total number of cases to 1,99,25,604, according to data from the Union’s Ministry of Health updated on Monday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets as they pulled out 3,465.07m on Friday, according to preliminary data.
The dollar index, which compares the strength of the dollar to a basket of six currencies, traded at 91.33 with 0.06 percent higher.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.45 percent to $ 66.46 a barrel.
Source: Telangana Today