The rupee depreciated 8 paise to close at 84.74 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, dragged down by fresh foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in domestic equities.
Forex traders said the rupee remains in a weakening mode due to dollar demand from importers and foreign banks.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.70 and touched the lowest level of 84.73 against the greenback during intra-day trade. The unit ended the session at 84.74 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee appreciated by 5 paise to settle at 84.66 against the US dollar.
On December 4, the rupee had slumped to its all-time low of 84.76 (provisional) against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.09 per cent at 105.96.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 0.89 per cent to USD 71.75 per barrel in futures trade.
Forex traders said post the RBI monetary policy announcement, investors will await the Industrial Production (IIP) and CPI data for further cues.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday kept its key interest rate unchanged citing inflation risks, but cut the Cash Reserve Ratio that banks are required to park with the central bank, boosting money with lenders to support a slowing economy.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex closed 200.66 points, or 0.25 per cent lower, at 81,508.46 points. The Nifty fell 58.80 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 24,619.00 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 1,830.31 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves increased by USD 1.51 billion to USD 658.091 billion for the week ended November 29, the RBI said on Friday.
The overall reserves had dropped by USD 1.31 billion to USD 656.582 billion in the previous reporting week.
