Rupee settles 7 paise lower at 73.53 against US dollar

The rupee depreciated 7 paise to close at 73.53 against the US dollar on Friday tracking muted domestic equities.

The local unit opened at 73.50 at the interbank forex market, and settled for the day at 73.53 against the US dollar, down 7 paise over its last close.

During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.40 and a low of 73.61 against the greenback.

The local currency settled at 73.46 against the American currency on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.13 per cent to 93.21.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 9.66 points higher at 38,830.66 and the broader NSE Nifty was trading 0.35 points higher at 11,449.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 838.37 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.15 per cent to USD 40.00 per barrel.