The rupee slumped by 19 paise to close below the 73 mark against the U.S. currency on Friday due to a stronger dollar and risk aversion in the global markets.<\/p>\n
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.98 against the greenback and traded in the range of 72.73 – 73.09 during the day.<\/p>\n
The rupee finally ended at 73.02 against the American currency, registering a fall of 19 paise over its previous closing.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.83 against the American currency.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.35 % to 91.95.<\/p>\n
"U.S. Dollar gained strength amid surge in bond yields. U.S. treasury yields jumped on expectation that rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and government stimulus efforts will accelerate economic growth and inflation," said Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.<\/p>\n
Further, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated banks intention to keep easy monetary policies but failed to express concern about recent rise in yields, Mr. Mukadam said.<\/p>\n
Forex traders said the local unit slumped on rising crude oil prices. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.59 % to $ 68.47 per barrel.<\/p>\n
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 440.76 points or 0.87 % lower at 50,405.32, while the broader NSE Nifty declined by 142.65 points or 0.95 % to 14,938.10.<\/p>\n
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth \u20b9 223.11 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. <\/p>\n