Rupee opens 11 paise lower at 71.79 against US dollar

The rupee on Monday opened 11 paise lower at 71.79 against the US dollar. The domestic unit on Friday declined by 22 paise to close at 71.90 amid strengthening of the greenback and cautious trading in the domestic equity market. 

Last week's provisional data from exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) became net sellers, as they off-loaded a total of Rs 20.67 billion worth of shares.

Foreign investors' portfolio investments have long been known as 'hot money' that comes in fast but can go out even faster and it is the outward journey that seems to be the underlying theme for the Indian capital markets as 2018 draws to a close, with net outflows nearing the Rs 1 trillion-mark.

This could make 2018 the worst year in terms of foreign portfolio investments in the Indian capital markets and follows a record net inflow of about Rs 2 trillion into equities and debt securities in 2017, PTI reported citing data available with the depositories and exchanges.

On the global front, Asian share markets began the week on a cautious note after soft economic data from China and Europe added to evidence of cooling global growth and reinforced anxiety over the broadening impact of international trade frictions. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1 per cent in early Monday trade, led by losses in China and Hong Kong. The CSI 300 of Shanghai and Shenzhen share index dropped 0.9 per cent, Reuters reported.