Rupee falls 25 paise to 82.62 against US dollar

MUMBAI: The rupee declined by 25 paise to 82.62 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a strong greenback against major currencies overseas and unabated foreign fund outflows.

Traders said negative sentiment in the domestic equity market also hit the domestic currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 82.32 against the dollar and traded in a range of 82.30 and 82.62. It finally settled at 82.62 (provisional) against the American currency, a fall of 25 paise against its previous close.

This is the third consecutive day of decline in the rupee. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.37 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.43 per cent to 104.04.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.46 per cent to USD 77.81 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 344.29 points or 0.59 per cent to 57,555.90 points while the broader NSE Nifty declined 71.15 points or 0.42 per cent to 16,972.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,086.96 crore, according to exchange data.

Unlike domestic market benchmark indices, global markets were mostly upbeat on expectations of a slower interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on the back of lower inflation.

In February, the US consumer price index came in largely in line with expectations at 6 per cent.