The rupee on Thursday depreciated 20 paise to 71.76 in early trade at the forex market ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s interest rate decision.
The domestic currency has been trading in a narrow range in the last two trading sessions as investors were cautious ahead RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee outcome scheduled to be announced later in the day.
Forex traders said positive opening in domestic equities, fresh foreign fund inflows and easing crude prices, however, capped the losses for the domestic unit.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 71.73 then fell further to 71.76 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 20 paise over its previous closing.
On Wednesday, the rupee had settled 1 paise higher at 71.56 against the US dollar.
Foreign funds purchased shares worth ₹694.97 crore on a net basis, and domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹525.26 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed.
The global benchmark, brent crude oil was trading at $62.46 per barrel, lower by 0.32%.
Meanwhile, domestic equity market opened on a higher note. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex, was trading at 37,081.76, up 106.55 points in early trade; and the wide-based Nifty was also trading up by 30.30 points at 11,092.75.
