The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 74.35 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on November 22, as a massive sell-off in domestic equities and firm American currency overseas weighed on investor sentiment.
However, lower crude prices supported the local unit and restricted the fall, forex dealers said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 74.36 but edged up to quote 74.35 against the American dollar, showing a fall of 5 paise in the early session.
On November 18, the rupee had closed at 74.30 against the U.S. dollar.
Forex markets were closed on November 19 on the occasion of ‘Guru Nanak Jayanti’.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 641.37 points or 1.08% lower at 58,994.64, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 179.25 points or 1.01% to 17,585.55.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.10% to 96.12.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.19% to $78.74 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on November 18, as they offloaded shares worth ₹3,930.62 crore, as per exchange data.