Rupee slips by 9 paise to 74.45 per dollar amid weak equities

Indian rupee, the currency benchmark, fell 9 paise to 74.45 per US dollar on Thursday's opening trade, tracking muted domestic equities.

The local unit opened at 74.44 per dollar at the interbank forex market and fell further down by 9 paise to trade at 74.45 over its last close of 74.36.

Indan rupee declined 18 paise to settle at 74.36 per US dollar on Wednesday, amid strengthened American currency in the overseas market and rising crude prices.

"The euphoria around a Joe Biden victory (in the US presidential election) and a vaccine becoming available by the year-end seems to be slowly settling down, said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

The overall risk sentiment, however, continues to remain positive, he said, adding that the dollar though has made a comeback against majors and commodity currencies.

The dollar index, fell 0.02 per cent to 93.02 against a basket of six currencies.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex and Nifty reversed from eight days of consecutive gains amid profit booking and traded on a bearish note on Thursday, amid weak Asian equities. Sensex was falling 266 points to 43,327, and Nifty was trading 72 points lower at 12,676.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will address the media at 12:30 pm on Thursday, which will also set the tone for the currency market today.

"The yield on the 10-year benchmark bond has gradually been inching higher on account of higher US treasury yields and higher crude prices. The Reserve Bank of India shall conduct Rs 10,000-crore operation twist today," Goenka added.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 6,207.19 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 3,463.86 crore in the Indian equity market on 11 November, provisional data showed.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.18 per cent to USD 43.88 per barrel.

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