Rupee falls 8 paise to 83.21 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee continued its downward movement for the second straight day and fell by 8 paise to 83.21 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday amid massive selling by foreign equity investors and a firm American currency. Subdued equity market sentiment and elevated level of crude oil prices -- hovering above USD 92 a barrel -- also put downside pressure on the Indian currency, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 83.19 and hit the lowest level of 83.23 against the greenback. It later traded at 83.21 against the dollar, registering a fall of 8 paise from its previous close. On Monday, the rupee declined by 19 paise to close at 83.13 against the dollar. Analysts attributed the downward movement of the rupee to a strengthening dollar amid increased month-end demand of the American currency by importers and rising US Treasury yield. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.05 per cent to 106.07.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.45 per cent to USD 92.87 per barrel. In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 15.76 points or 0.02 per cent lower at 66,007.93 points. The broader NSE Nifty declined 10.55 points or 0.05 per cent to 19,664.00.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,333.03 crore, according to exchange data.