Rupee pares initial gains, settles 10 paise lower at 75.17/dollar

The rupee on Tuesday pared its initial gains to settle 10 paise lower at 75.17 (provisional) against the US dollar as investor concerns grew over fresh impact of new COVID variant on the economy.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened on a strong note at 74.91 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.86 and a low of 75.19 against the US dollar in a highly volatile trading session.

The local unit finally settled at 75.17 a dollar, down 10 paise over its previous close.

The rupee on Monday dived 18 paise to close at a five-week low of 75.07 against the US dollar on worries over the new coronavirus variant.

The appreciation bias in the rupee was curtailed, as investor concern has resurfaced about how much damage the new Omicron coronavirus variant may unleash on the economy, traders said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.68 per cent down at 95.69.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 2.85 per cent to USD 71.35 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 195.71 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 57,064.87, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 70.75 points or 0.41 per cent to 16,983.20.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,332.21 crore, according to exchange data.