Rupee falls 24 paise to 82.09/$ amid rising crude, foreign fund outflows

The rupee declined 24 paise to 82.09 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and rising crude prices overseas weighed on investor sentiment. Besides, foreign fund outflows put pressure on the domestic unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 81.94 against the dollar, then slipped further to 82.09, registering a fall of 24 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session on Monday, the rupee had settled down by 52 paise at 81.85 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.07 per cent to 105.22.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.94 per cent to USD 83.46 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 353.44 points or 0.56 per cent lower at 62,481.16. The broader NSE Nifty fell 99.30 points or 0.53 per cent to 18,601.75.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,139.07 crore, according to exchange data.

The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel on Monday started brainstorming for the next round of monetary policy amid expectations of a moderate interest rate hike of 25-35 basis points as inflation has started showing signs of easing and economic growth tapering.

The RBI has hiked key benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points (bps) thrice since June over and above an off-cycle 40 bps increase in the repo in May.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das would be announcing the bi-monthly monetary policy on Wednesday (December 7) at the conclusion of the three-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

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