Rupee slips 7 paise to 74.53 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The Indian rupee depreciated by 7 paise to 74.53 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, weighed down by a lacklustre trend in the domestic equity market and firm American dollar. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 74.49, then lost further ground and touched 74.53 against the American dollar in initial deals, registering a decline of 7 paise from the last close. On Monday, the rupee had closed at 74.46 against the US dollar. “Technically, the USD-INR spot pair continued to remain above 74.30 level indicating a bullish momentum up to 74.58-74.60 levels. However, a trade below could pull the pair to the support zone at 74.12-74.00 levels,” Reliance Securities said in a research note. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.02 percent to 95.42. The US dollar extended gains on Tuesday morning in Asian trade supported by bets that the Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policy faster than expected due to a rise in inflation, the note added. Traders will be eyeing the US retail sales numbers and the US industrial output data for further cues. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 0.78 percent to USD 82.69 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 424.74 crore, as per exchange data. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 124.53 points or 0.21 percent lower at 60,594.18, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 35.45 points or 0.2 percent to 18,074.