Rupee drops 13 paise to 71.24 against dollar as crude rises

The rupee skidded by 11 paise to close at 71.24 against the US dollar Thursday as rising oil prices and a strengthening greenback weighed on the market sentiment.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the domestic unit opened strong at 71.06 and rose to 70.91. However, it could not hold on to the gains and fell to a low of 71.29 before finally ending at 71.24 -- a fall of 13 paise.

The rupee had closed at 71.11 against the US dollar Wednesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who had been heavy sellers over the past few sessions, net bought equities worth Rs 55 crore Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 202 crore, provisional data showed.

Global markets were mixed following the release of Federal Reserve minutes which showed that the US central bank would be patient on interest rate hikes.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 96.57.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at USD 67.14 per barrel.

Domestic equity indices closed higher for the second straight session Thursday, led by metal, pharma and banking stocks.

After a choppy start, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 142.09 points, or 0.40 per cent higher at 35,898.35. The broader NSE Nifty gained 54.40 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 10,789.85.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 71.1540 and for rupee/euro at 80.6203. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 92.7213 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 64.24.