Rupee falls 32 paise to 72.17 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee Wednesday plunged 32 paise to 72.17 per US dollar in early trade on the forex market after the appointment of former bureaucrat Shaktikanta Das as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Das Tuesday was named the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 72.10 against the US dollar, then depreciated further to 72.17, showing a decline of 32 paise over its previous closing.

On Tuesday the Indian rupee had plunged 53 paise to 71.85 per US dollar.

Forex traders said factors such as significant foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices also weighed on the domestic currency.

Foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 2,421.06 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 2,255.68 crore.

The global benchmark Brent crude was trading higher by 1.08 per cent at 60.85 per barrel.

Meanwhile, domestic equity market opened on a higher note. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex, was trading at 35,285.85, up 135.84 points in early trade. The wide-based Nifty was also trading with gains of 53.40 points at 10,602.55.