Indian rupee drops further against UAE dirham

The Indian rupee depreciated four paise to 82.64 against the US dollar (22.51 versus the UAE dirham) in early trade on Wednesday as a strengthening greenback overseas and risk-off sentiment among investors ahead of the US Fed’s interest rate decision weighed on the rupee.

However, a firm trend in the Indian equities supported the South Asian currency, forex dealers said.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened flat at 82.60 against the dollar, then lost some ground to quote at 82.64, registering a decline of four paise over its previous close.

In early deals, the rupee was moving in a tight range of 82.60-82.65.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the rupee settled nine paise lower at 82.60 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.11 per cent to 104.09. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.33 per cent to $80.41 per barrel.

In the Indian equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 238.75 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 62,772.05. The broader NSE Nifty rose 59.40 points or 0.32 per cent to 18,667.40.

The US inflation for November was recorded at 7.1 per cent annually against an annual gain of 7.7 per cent in October, triggering hopes that the US Federal Reserve might be less hawkish in raising interest rates.

The Fed is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate by 0.50 percentage points on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in capital markets on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs6.19 billion, according to exchange data.

(With inputs from PTI)

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