Rupee falls by 23 paise to 76.65 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee declined 23 paise to 76.65 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Monday tracking the strength of the dollar in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a muted note at 76.58 against the American dollar, then fell and touched an early low of 76.65 in initial deals, registering a fall of 23 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, The rupee declined by 25 paise to close at 76.42 against the US currency.

The rupee opened weaker against the US dollar weighed by hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Most Asian and emerging market peers are trading weaker this Monday morning and could weigh on sentiments.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 2.85 per cent to USD 103.61 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 101.23.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 645.45 points or 1.13 per cent lower at 56,551.70, while the broader NSE Nifty declined by 189.05 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 16,982.90.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,461.72 crore, according to stock exchange data.