Mumbai: The rupee declined 22 paise and slipped below the 76 per US dollar level in opening trade on Wednesday as persistent foreign fund outflows and Omicron worries kept the pressure on the local unit. Moreover, a muted trend in domestic equities and firm American currency weighed on the domestic unit, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 76.05, then lost further ground and touched 76.10 against the American dollar in early deals, registering a fall of 22 paise over its last close.
In the previous session, the rupee declined by 10 paise to close at an 18-month low level of 75.88 against the US dollar.
Traders said the decline in the rupee has also been driven by the fear of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Delhi has reported four more cases of Omicron while eight more persons have tested positive for the COVID-19 variant in Maharashtra on Tuesday, taking the tally in the country to 61.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies fell 0.06 per cent to 96.51.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 279.59 points or 0.48 per cent lower at 57,837.50, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 79.25 points or 0.46 per cent to 17,245.65.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.04 per cent to USD 72.93 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 763.18 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.
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U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 52 cents, or 0.7%, to $70.21 a barrel at 0215 GMT, after losing 56 cents in the previous session.