Rupee slumps 19 paise to over six-week low of 74.31 against US dollar amid rising crude oil prices

Mumbai: The Indian rupee tumbled 19 paise to end at its weakest level in over six weeks of 74.31 against the US dollar on Monday as a stronger greenback against key rivals and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.16 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.13 and a low of 74.41 against the US dollar. The local unit finally settled at 74.31 a dollar, down 19 paise over its previous close. This was the rupee’s lowest closing since 20 August this year. “The rupee traded weak as dollar index rallied on the back of US FED tapering bond-buying hints in weeks ahead,” said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities. “OPEC meeting outcome will impact crude prices and USD/INR pair being a crude net importer hence traders will keep a close eye on OPEC meet outcome,” Trivedi said, adding that going ahead the rupee can be seen between 74.20-74.60. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.10 percent lower at 93.93. “The Indian rupee depreciated against the dollar on Monday, as the offshore Chinese yuan weakened amid prospects of a broader spill over from the troubles at cash-strapped China Evergrande Group,” said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities. Evergrande missed its offshore dollar coupon payments and has triggered some weakness in the offshore Chinese yuan. Broadly, the risk sentiment was weaker in the region and weighed on sentiments, Iyer noted. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.15 percent to $79.40 per barrel. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 533.74 points or 0.91 percent higher at 59,299.32, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 159.20 points or 0.91 percent to 17,691.25. Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 131.39 crore, as per exchange data.