The Rupee opened on a cautious note and fell 9 paise to 68.80 against the U.S. Dollar in early trade on July 17 amid rising crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the Rupee opened at 68.69 then fell to 68.80 against the U.S. Dollar, showing a decline of 9 paise over its previous closing.
The Indian rupee, on July 16, had closed at 68.71 against the U.S. Dollar.
Forex traders said rising brent crude prices and foreign fund inflows weighed on the domestic currency, while weakening of the greenback vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and positive opening in domestic equities added support to the local unit and restricted the downfall.
Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.30% to U.S. Dollar 64.54 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out ₹444.99 crore on July 16, as per provisional data.
Domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on July 17 with benchmark indices Sensex trading 75.05 points up at 39,206.09 and Nifty up 21.55 points at 11,684.15.
Meanwhile, on the global front, the Trump administration has said that there is an “enormous potential” for growth in the India-U.S. relationship and has exuded confidence that the ongoing trade issues could be worked through because of the friendship between the two nations. “As it relates to our trade relationship, the Secretary (of State) has said this as well when we were in India: that we see a lot of opportunity for growth in our relationship. We see enormous potential,” State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus told reporters at a news conference on July 16.
