Rupee slumps 24 paise to 74.97 against US dollar in early trade

Moreover, rising crude oil prices, foreign fund outflows, spiking COVID-19 cases and heavy selling in domestic equities weighed on the domestic currency.

Mumbai: The rupee opened on a weak note and fell below the 75 per US dollar level in early trade on Monday amid lacklustre opening in domestic equities ahead of the release of key macro-economic data.

Moreover, rising crude oil prices, foreign fund outflows, spiking COVID-19 cases and heavy selling in domestic equities weighed on the domestic currency.

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At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.97 then lost further ground and fell to 75.14 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 41 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Friday had closed at 74.73 against the US dollar.

The rupee started on a weaker note against the US dollar weighed by the inflationary pressures on the economy ahead of the data tonight, Reliance Securities said.

Meanwhile, India hit a new coronavirus infection record with 1,68,912 new cases, the highest single-day rise so far, taking the total tally of cases to 1,35,27,717, according to official data.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.05 per cent to USD 62.98 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 653.51 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

Domestic bourses opened on a weak note on Monday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 1,357.46 points down at 48,233.86 and Nifty down 402.35 points at 14,432.50.

Meanwhile, US consumer price data will be released Tuesday, while investors will also await the Fed Chair Jerome Powell speech on Wednesday at the Economic Club of Washington, the note said.