Rupee falls 14 paise to 76.23 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee declined by 14 paise to 76.23 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, as muted domestic equities and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit.

Forex traders said growing concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus and its impact on economic recovery as well as firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 76.23 against the US dollar in early deals, registering a decline of 14 paise from the last close.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 76.09 against the greenback.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 434.23 points or 0.75 per cent lower at 57,466.91, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 148.85 points or 0.86 per cent to 17,099.55.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.07 per cent to 95.97.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 0.96 per cent to USD 74.30 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,468.71 crore, as per exchange data.