Rupee falls 102 paise to close at 75.63 against USD amid Ukraine crisis

The rupee tanked 102 paise to close at 75.63 (provisional) against the US currency on Thursday as riskier assets took a hit after Russia launched military operations against Ukraine.

Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows, heavy selling in domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 75.02 against the American dollar but later dropped to a low of 75.75 against the greenback.

The local unit finally finished at 75.63, down 102 paise from the previous close.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.74 per cent higher at 96.90.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures jumped 8.36 per cent to USD 104.94 per barrel.

"Rupee became the worst performing currency among Asian currencies on back of month-end dollar demand from oil importers. Also, safe-haven dollar demand has surged after Russia attacks on Ukraine fuelled sell-off in risk assets," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Brent Crude oil prices surged past the USD 100-a-barrel mark amid geopolitical worries which worsened sentiments for rupee.

"Spot USD-INR took support at 74.30, the 200 days simple moving average and now heads for a month high of 75.72," Parmar said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex ended 2702.15 points or 4.72 per cent lower at 54,529.91, while the broader NSE Nifty plunged 815.30 points or 4.78 per cent to 16,247.95.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,417.16 crore, as per stock exchange data.