Rupee skids 22 paise to close at 71.90 amid strengthening of the US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee declined by 22 paise to close at 71.90 against the US dollar on Friday amid strengthening of the greenback and cautious trading in the domestic equity market. Forex traders said the rupee came under pressure following strengthening of the dollar against major currencies overseas, while caution prevailed amid the RBI’s central board meeting under new Governor Shaktikanta Das. [caption id=“attachment_5114261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rupee and US dollar Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the local unit opened lower at 71.80 and fell further to touch the day’s low of 72.04. However, it pared some losses and finally ended at 71.90 per dollar, down by 22 paise against its previous close. On Thursday, the Indian rupee had plunged 33 paise to 71.68 per US dollar. Benchmark indices finished with modest gains after a see-saw session Friday. The BSE Sensex ticked higher by 33.29 points, or 0.09 percent, to end at 35,962.93, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 13.90 points, or 0.13 percent, to 10,805.45. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading at $61.02 per barrel Friday, lower by 0.70 percent. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 675.14 crore Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were sellers to the tune of Rs 51.86 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed. The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.7359 and for rupee/euro at 81.4628. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 90.5809 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 63.20.