Rupee depreciates 12 paise to 81.86 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 81.86 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 81.84 against the dollar, then lost ground to quote at 81.86, registering a loss of 12 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee depreciated by 10 paise to close at 81.74 against the US currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.25 per cent to 107.19.

The rupee started this Monday morning on a weaker note as the dollar continued to strengthen amid hawkish Fed rhetoric, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said, adding that the key trigger for the markets will be the US central bank's latest meeting.

Weaker crude oil prices could cap losses, but Asian and emerging market peers were weak this Monday morning and will weigh on the local unit.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.08 per cent to USD 86.67 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 468.58 points or 0.76 per cent down at 61,194.90, and the broader NSE Nifty was trading lower by 146.20 points or 0.80 per cent at 18,161.45.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 751.20 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's foreign exchange reserves rose by USD 14.72 billion to reach USD 544.72 billion for the week to November 11, making it the steepest accretion since August 2021.