Heavy selling pressure: Rupee falls 9 paise to settle at 82.85 agnst dollar

The rupee dropped amid heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong greenback overseas

The rupee dropped 9 paise to close at 82.85 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday amid heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong greenback overseas.

However, receding crude oil prices capped the rupee's loss, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened sharply lower at 82.84 against the greenback and witnessed a high of 82.73 and a low of 82.89.

It finally settled at 82.85 against the greenback, down 9 paise over its previous close of 82.76.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 104.69.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 2.29 per cent to USD 79.35 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 461.22 points or 0.75 per cent lower at 61,337.81. The broader NSE Nifty fell 145.90 points or 0.79 per cent to 18,269.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 710.74 crore, according to exchange data.