Rupee freefall continues, down 5 paise in early trade against US dollar

The Indian rupee continued its downward journey on Thursday, sliding another 5 paise to trade at 73.44 against the US dollar amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit started the session on positive note but soon nervousness surrounding coronavirus gripped the forex market sentiment, pulling the rupee down to 73.44 against the previous day's close of 73.39 a dollar.

Further weakening sentiment, foreign investors offloaded securities worth Rs 878.38 crore on Wednesday.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was marginally down at 97.33.

Global crude oil benchmark Brent was trading 1.33 per cent up at USD 51.81 per barrel.

"The panic of corona plays into our domestic market as well as the global front which has forced the funds outflows," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

According to a UN report, the trade impact of the coronavirus epidemic for India is estimated to be about USD 348 million and the country figures among the top 15 economies most affected as slowdown of manufacturing in China disrupts world trade.