Rupee falls 11 paise to 79.82 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated by 11 paise to 79.82 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency and a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 79.80 against the greenback, then fell to 79.82, registering a decline of 11 paise over its last close.

In initial deals, the local unit also touched 79.79 against the dollar.

On Thursday, the rupee declined by 19 paise to close at 79.71 against the dollar.

The risk-off moods and firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.01 percent to 109.72.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.34 percent to USD 91.15 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 329.03 points or 0.55 percent lower at 59,604.98, while the broader NSE Nifty was lower by 88.45 points or 0.49 per cent to 17,788.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,270.68 crore, as per exchange data.