Rupee slumps 31 paise to close at 76.15 against US dollar

The rupee slumped 31 paise to close at 76.15 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday as rising crude oil prices and a lacklustre trend in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 76.08 against the American urrency, then lost further ground to settle at 76.15, down 31 paise from the previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee spurted by 37 paise to close at 75.84 against the US dollar.

The forex market was closed on Friday on account of Holi.

''The dollar is in rally mode as markets expect an even more hawkish Federal Reserve moving forward. Weakness in domestic equities and higher crude oil prices also weighed on the local unit,'' said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further said that there are a handful of economic events this week and the focus will remain Ukraine-Russia peace talks, which will drive risk sentiments and crude oil prices.

''Spot USD/INR is having strong support at 75.70 and resistance at 76.45,'' Parmar noted.

Amid intensifying the Russia-Ukraine conflict, investors assessed diplomatic efforts to negotiate an end to the war.

The US Dollar has bounced back from recent declines after Federal Reserve officials said the central bank may need to be more aggressive to deal with inflation.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 percent lower at 98.20.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 3.47 percent to $111.68per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex ended 571.44 points or 0.99 percent lower at 57,292.49, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 169.45 points or 0.98 percent to 17,117.60.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Thursday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,800.14 crore, according to stock exchange data.

(With PTI inputs)

Published on: Monday, March 21, 2022, 06:59 PM IST