Rupee slumps 26 paise to close at 73.74 against US dollar today

The Indian rupee fell by 26 paise to close at 73.74 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a strong American currency in the overseas market and muted trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 73.82 and finally settled for the day at 73.74 a dollar, down 26 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session on Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.48 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.27 per cent higher at 93.44.

"The Indian rupee started the week on back foot as markets are in a risk-averse mood, triggered by the worries over the Chinese property developer Evergrande's debt crisis," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

"Volatility buyers are active in the forex markets as this week will witness fourteen central banks, apart from crucial FOMC, rate decisions and elections in Canada and Germany," Parmar said.

The INR/USD pair is expected to find resistance around 74 while hold support at 73.40, he noted.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.79 per cent to USD 73.99 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 524.96 points or 0.89 per cent lower at 58,490.93, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 188.25 points or 1.07 per cent to 17,396.90.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,552.59 crore, as per exchange data.