The Indian rupee declined 12 paise to 74.35 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.33 against the dollar, then fell further to 74.35, registering a fall of 12 paise over its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.23 against the U.S. dollar .
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.06% at 94.28.
According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors, amid risk-off sentiments, stocks fall, FPIs sell and inflation rises.
"USD-INR is expected to remain in the range of 74.10 to 74.50 for the day. Exporters are likely to keep a stop loss of 74.10 and hold on to their positions or sell small portions on the next uptick and importers to keep buying the dips or keep a stop loss beyond 74.50," Mr. Bhansali said.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex was trading 469.12 points or 0.79% lower at 58,657.24, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 136.55 points or 0.78% to 17,481.60.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,225.60 crore, as per exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.20% to $78.15 per barrel.
