Rupee skids 25 paise to 73.12 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 25 paise to 73.12 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday tracking muted domestic equities and strengthening American currency.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened on a weak note at 73.10, then fell further to 73.12, registering a fall of 25 paise over its last close.

On Tuesday, rupee had rallied 73 paise to breach the 73-mark against the US dollar on Tuesday, supported by liquidity-boosting measures announced by the RBI. It had settled at 72.87.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 92.35.

"The US dollar has strengthened overnight, as a result of some profit-taking on short USD trades," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 8.89 points lower at 38,891.91 and broader NSE Nifty slipped 1.70 points to 11,468.55.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 486.09 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.72 per cent to USD 45.91 per barrel.