Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened by another 9 paise to close at 74.32 against the US dollar on Wednesday as stronger American currency and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.
Besides, weaker Asian peers against the US dollar also put pressure on the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 74.23 per dollar unchanged from its previous close. It hovered in the range of 74.23 to 74.45 during the day before ending at 74.32.
On a monthly basis, the domestic currency fell by 170 paise or 2.34 per cent in June.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.05 per cent to 92.09.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.72 per cent to USD 75.30 per barrel.
“The Indian rupee depreciated on Wednesday continued to be influenced by the Federal Reserve hawkish tilt in their recent monetary policy meeting,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
Most regional currencies were also under pressure on Wednesday and weighed on sentiments, he added.
Meanwhile, the obvious risk to the markets on Wednesday was the crude oil prices, Iyer noted.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 66.95 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 52,482.71, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 26.95 points or 0.17 per cent to 15,721.50. —PT

Press Trust of India