Rupee slips 16 paise to 74.68 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated by 16 paise to 74.68 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the negative domestic equity market and a firm American dollar.

Further, unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment, traders said.

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At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 74.60, then lost further ground and touched 74.68 against the American dollar, registering a decline of 16 paise from the last close.

On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 74.52 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.05 per cent to 96.72.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 2.26 per cent to USD 80.36 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,300.65 crore, as per exchange data.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 1201.47 points or 2.04 per cent lower at 57,593.62, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 360.90 points or 2.06 per cent to 17,175.35.