Rupee slips 9 paise to close at 74.24 against US dollar

Declining for the second straight session, the rupee on Monday fell 9 paise to close at 74.24 (provisional) against the US dollar as muted domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.18 against the American currency and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.16 and a low of 74.36 during the session.

The rupee finally settled at 74.24, down 9 paise over its previous close of 74.15 against the greenback.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent down at 95.11.

"Weaker economic data, higher bond yields, a surge in crude oil prices and state-run banks dollar buying on behalf of importers weighed on rupee for the second day in trot," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Global forex markets remain calm as the US market remained closed on Monday on account of Martin Luther King Day.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.27 per cent to USD 85.83 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 85.88 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 61,308.91, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 52.35 points or 0.29 per cent to 18,308.10.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,598.20 crore, as per stock exchange data.