The rupee depreciated 5 paise to 74.98 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on July 8 tracking weak domestic equities and strengthening American currency.
Forex traders said steady crude oil prices and foreign fund inflows supported the rupee, while factors like strong dollar, muted domestic equities and rising COVID-19 cases dragged the local unit down.
The rupee opened on a positive note at 74.88 at the interbank forex market, but soon lost ground and touched 74.98 against U.S. dollar, down 5 paise over its last close.
It had settled at 74.93 against the U.S. dollar on July 7.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07% to 96.95.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 23.97 points lower at 36,650.55 and broader NSE Nifty fell 5.10 points to 10,794.55.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth ₹829.90 crore on July 7, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.35% to $42.93 per barrel.
