Rupee slips 28 paise to 71.35 against USD in early trade

The Indian rupee opened on a cautious note and fell 28 paise to 71.35 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign fund outflows.

Forex traders said weak opening in domestic equities and rising demand for the US dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas also weighed on the domestic currency.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened at 71.22 then fell to 71.35 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 28 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Tuesday had closed at 71.07 against the US dollar.

Forex market was closed on Wednesday on account of Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.03 per cent to USD 57.71 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 1,298.56 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data.

Domestic bourses opened on a negative note on Thursday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 112.27 points down at 38,193.14 and Nifty lower by 43 points at 11,316.90.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.02 per cent to 99.04.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.62 per cent in morning trade.