Rupee plunges 71 paise to 75.80 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee opened weak at 75.70 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 75.80, down 71 paise over its last close.

It had settled at 75.09 against the US dollar on Thursday.

Forex market was closed on Friday on account of Maharashtra Day. Traders said the weakness in the local unit was largely due to heavy correction in domestic equities and strengthening of the US dollar. Moreover, rising coronavirus cases in the country also weighed on the local unit.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 1,373 and the number of cases climbed to 42,533 as on Monday, according to the health ministry.

In India, the coronavirus-induced lockdown has been extended beyond May 4, for another two weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed over 35 lakh and the death toll has topped 2.47 lakh.

Domestic bourses were trading with significant losses with benchmark indices Sensex plunging 1,662.61 points to 32,055.01 and Nifty down 475.95 points at 9,383.95.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market, as they purchased equity shares worth Rs 1,968.80 crore on Thursday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.95 per cent to USD 26.19 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.31 per cent to 99.38.