Rupee slumps 17 paise to 74.79 against US dollar in opening trade

The rupee depreciated 17 paise to 74.79 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, following a strong dollar overseas and subdued sentiment in the domestic equities.

However, lower crude prices and fresh foreign fund inflows restricted the rupee’s fall, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 74.75 against the dollar, then fell further to 74.79 in the morning session, registering a fall of 17 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.62 against the US dollar.

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Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, surged 0.11 per cent at 92.74.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 74.49 points or 0.14 per cent lower at 52,980.27, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 31.70 points to 15,847.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 532.94 crore, as per exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.07 per cent to $73.38 per barrel.