Rupee settles seven paise lower at 74.15 against US dollar

The rupee surrendered all its early gains to settle 7 paise lower at 74.15 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, in line with weaker Asian peers against the greenback.

Higher crude oil prices also put pressure on the Indian currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange (forex), the domestic currency opened sharply higher at 73.95 a dollar and gained further strength to touch a high of 73.83 during the day.

It, however, could not hold on to the gains and finally settled at 74.15 against the greenback, 7 paise lower over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee had gained 28 paise to end at 74.08 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.14 per cent to 92.35.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.15 per cent to USD 40.30 per barrel.

Forex traders said that the rupee declined in spite of record buying in equities as strengthening US dollar against key rivals in Asia and elsewhere turned sentiment unfavourable in domestic forex market.

On the equity front, the BSE Sensex ended 704.37 points or 1.68 per cent higher at 42,597.43 -- its record closing high.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty ended at a lifetime high of 12,461.05, up 197.50 points or 1.61 per cent.