Rupee snaps 9-day winning streak, slips 3 paise against US dollar

The rupee snapped its nine-day winning streak to settle 3 paise lower at 74.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, following weakness in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee started on a tepid note at 74.69 against the dollar. During the day, it witnessed a high of 74.68 and a low of 74.86.

On Tuesday, the rupee registered its ninth straight session of gain and surged 30 paise to close at a one-month high of 74.70 against the greenback.

The rupee is expected to trade in a close range this week amid the year-end holidays, forex traders said.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 90.99 points or 0.16 per cent lower at 57,806.49, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 19.65 points or 0.11 per cent to 17,213.60.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, advanced 0.18 per cent to 96.37.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.11 per cent to USD 79.03 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in the capital market on Tuesday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 207.31 crore, as per stock exchange data.