Rupee slips 6 paise to 73.90 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 6 paise to 73.90 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday in line with weaker Asian peers amid concerns over a new coronavirus strain.

Traders said the domestic unit is weak tracking tepid cued from most regional currencies on concerns that a infectious new coronavirus strain could slow down the prospects of a global economic recovery.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.89 against the US dollar, then inched lower to 73.90 against the greenback, registering a fall of 6 paise over its previous close.

On Tuesday, rupee had settled at 73.84 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.24 per cent to 90.43.

"...the US dollar continued to find safe haven demand as the new coronavirus variant in the UK could disrupt the economic recovery," Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Further, Asian currencies were trading flat to weak this Wednesday morning and could weigh on sentiments, the note added.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 180.09 points higher at 46,186.78 and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 51.15 points to 13,517.45.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,153.00 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.44 per cent to USD 49.36 per barrel.