Rupee slips below 74/USD level in early trade amid weak risk sentiment

A weak opening in domestic equities amid global risk aversion weighs on the Rupee

The Indian rupee continued its downward journey on Thursday, sliding another 18 paise to 74.05 against the US dollar in opening trade, tracking weak opening in domestic equities amid global risk aversion.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened weak at 74.02 against the greenback, then lost further ground and fell to 74.05 against the American currency, showing a fall of 18 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated by 16 paise to settle at more than one-month low of 73.87 against the US currency.

"The risk sentiment has been dealt a serious blow with the worsening coronavirus situation in Europe on account of a second wave. Most countries have announced partial lockdowns, curfews or declared emergencies. This threatens to nip the nascent recovery in the bud," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

Goenka further added that "the rupee is likely to get spooked on account of global risk aversion. We expect the rupee to trade a 73.90-74.30 range intraday. We may see nationalised banks offering dollars to smoothen volatility".

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.03 per cent to 93.37.

On the equity market front, BSE index Sensex was trading 168.34 points lower at 39,754.12, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 52 points to 11,677.60.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,130.98 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, inched 0.18 per cent higher to USD 39.19 per barrel.