Rupee weakens against US dollar in early trade, falls 38 paise to 76.73/$

The rupee depreciated 38 paise to 76.73 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Friday, weighed down by unabated foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.61 against the American dollar, then lost ground to quote at 76.73, registering a fall of 29 paise from the last close.

On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 76.35 against the US dollar.

Forex traders said the rupee had gained in the last two sessions against the US dollar after a surprise rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and as US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell pushed back against a steeper 75 basis points rate hike in the coming months.

However, unabated foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent lower at 103.61.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 686.08 points or 1.23 per cent lower at 55,016.15 points, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 213.50 points or 1.28 per cent to 16,469.15 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.61 per cent to USD 111.58 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,074.74 crore, as per stock exchange data.