Mumbai: The Indian rupee weakened by 24 paise to close at 74.55 against the US dollar on Tuesday as firmer American currency and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 74.28 per dollar. It hovered in the range of 74.25 to 74.62 during the day before ending at 74.55 against the greenback.
The rupee depreciated against the US dollar on Tuesday, amid importer demand for dollars following a sharp spike in crude oil prices, according to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.
The increase in oil prices could raise inflation expectations and widen India’s trade deficit and could hurt the rupee, Iyer added.
Meanwhile, markets still remain focused on the release of Federal Reserve monetary policy minutes on Wednesday that will be scrutinised for clues on US monetary policy.
The notes of the meeting should offer more insight on the inflation stance as well, he said.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 92.38.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 18.82 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 52,861.18, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 16.10 points or 0.1 per cent to 15,818.25.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.19 per cent to USD 77.31 per barrel.
—PTI

Press Trust of India