Indian rupee, the currency benchmark fell by 16 paise to 73.77 per dollar on Monday's opening deals as negative equities and strong US currency weighed on investor sentiment.
The local unit opened at 73.77 at the interbank forex market, down 16 paise over its last close. On Friday, the Indian Rupee slipped 7 paise to settle at 73.61 per US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.16 per cent to 92.91. The dollar index bounced back today amid delay in negotiations over a new US coronavirus relief aid.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex fell 380 points to 40,305 and NSE Nifty50 was trading 112 points lower at 11,815.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 906.93 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 891.86 crore in the Indian equity market on 23 October, provisional data showed.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.72 per cent to USD 41.05 per barrel. Oil price fell as concerns over demand due to second wave of coronavirus in many countries overshadowed prospects.
"Governments across Europe have imposed stricter measures to contain the virus as cases have surged to record highs on account of the second wave. We could see the risk sentiment sour on account of this development," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.
Goenka further added that market participants would look to adjust their positioning across asset classes ahead of the US elections next week.
"We could see some risk on bets being rolled back. The overall mood is likely to be that of caution. Markets would also become less hopeful of a pre-election agreement on fiscal stimulus between the Democrats and the White House," he said.
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