Rupee falls 32 paise against U.S. dollar in early trade

Updated Date: 12/12/2018

Category: Business News

The Indian rupee on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, plunged 32 paise to 72.17 per U.S. dollar in early trade on the forex market after the appointment of former bureaucrat Shaktikanta Das as the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

Mr. Das on Tuesday was named the new governor of the Reserve Bank of India after Urjit Patel abruptly resigned amid a face-off with the government over issues related to governance and autonomy of the central bank.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 72.10 against the U.S. dollar, then depreciated further to 72.17, showing a decline of 32 paise over its previous closing.

On Tuesday, the Indian rupee had plunged 53 paise to 71.85 per U.S. dollar.

Forex traders said factors such as significant foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices also weighed on the domestic currency. Foreign funds sold shares worth ₹2,421.06 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹2,255.68 crore.

The global benchmark Brent crude was trading higher by 1.08% at 60.85 per barrel.

Meanwhile, domestic equity market opened on a higher note. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex, was trading at 35,285.85, up 135.84 points in early trade. The wide-based Nifty was also trading with gains of 53.40 points at 10,602.55.