Indian rupee drops against UAE dirham in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated 12 paise to 81.86 against the US dollar (22.3 versus the UAE dirham) in early trade on Monday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and a muted trend in the Indian equities.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.84 against the dollar, then lost ground to quote at 81.86, registering a loss of 12 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee depreciated 10 paise to close at 81.74 against the US currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.25 per cent to 107.19.

The rupee started Monday morning on a weaker note as the dollar continued to strengthen amid hawkish Fed rhetoric, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said, adding that the key trigger for the markets will be the US central bank’s latest meeting.

Weaker crude oil prices could cap losses, but Asian and emerging market peers were weak this Monday morning and will weigh on the rupee. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.08 per cent to $86.67 per barrel.

In the Indian equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 468.58 points or 0.76 per cent down at 61,194.90, and the broader NSE Nifty was trading lower by 146.20 points or 0.80 per cent at 18,161.45.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs7.51 billion on Friday, according to exchange data.

(With inputs from PTI)

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