The Indian rupee slumped 24 paise to 74.33 against the U..S dollar in opening trade on May 3 tracking weak domestic equities and strong American currency.
Forex traders said concerns over rising COVID-19 cases and foreign fund outflows also weighed on investors’ sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened lower at 74.25 against the dollar, and lost further ground and touched 74.33, registering a fall of 24 paise over its previous close.
On April 30, rupee had closed at 74.09 against the U.S. dollar.
Rupee opened on a week note on global dollar strength and weaker-than-expected performance of BJP in State elections, particularly Bengal, said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.
Mr. Goenka further said that “it is likely to trade a 74.15-74.45 range intraday with an upside bias”.
The major trigger point for the markets could be the CPI and IIP numbers this week, Reliance Securities said in a research note adding that volumes could be low this week as Chinese investors and traders will be away from the markets on account of Labour Day break from May 3 to 5 this week.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 363.46 points or 0.75% lower at 48,418.90. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 85.15 points or 0.58% to 14,545.95.
The daily COVID-19 cases in India showed a slight dip with 3,68,147 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, taking the total tally of cases to 1,99,25,604, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on May 3.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, as they pulled out ₹3,465.07 crore on April 30, as per provisional data.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.06% at 91.33.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was down by 0.45% to $66.46 per barrel.
