Rupee Declines To 75.16 Against Dollar Amid Sell-Off In Equities

The rupee declined 14 paise to close at 75.16 (provisional) against the US dollar, tracking massive sell-offs in domestic equities amid growing worries over the new COVID variant. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 74.98 and registered an intra-day high of 74.95 and a low of 75.18 against the greenback in a volatile trading session.

The local unit finally settled at 75.16 a dollar, down 14 paise over its previous close. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06 per cent up at 96.21.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 764.83 points or 1.31 per cent lower at 57,696.46, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 204.95 points or 1.18 per cent to 17,196.70.

The rupee has been under pressure over the last few trading sessions as the detection of the new coronavirus variant Omicron re-ignited growth concerns and hurt risk appetite. Besides, unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments, according to traders.

According to exchange data, the foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on December 2 as they offloaded shares worth Rs 909.71 crore. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 2.54 per cent to $71.44 per barrel.