Rupee falls 35 paise to 82.63 against US dollar

The rupee declined 35 paise to 82.63 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and a strong greenback in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiments.

Besides, foreign fund outflows and rising crude oil prices in the international market impacted the domestic unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened weak at 82.54 against the dollar, then lost further ground to quote at 82.63, registering a fall of 35 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee settled 10 paise higher at 82.28 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, surged 0.35 per cent to 105.16.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.66 per cent to USD 76.60 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 486.34 points or 0.78 per cent lower at 61,695.33. The broader NSE Nifty fell 138.80 points or 0.75 per cent to 18,357.80.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 158.01 crore, according to exchange data.

After investing over Rs 36,200 crore last month, foreign investors continued their positive momentum and infused Rs 4,500 crore in the Indian equity markets so far in December, mainly due to the decline in the dollar index.

However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned sellers in the last four trading sessions, and pulled out Rs 3,300 crore as they are adopting a cautious stance ahead of the US Federal Reserve's decision on the interest rate.