Indian rupee opens weaker against UAE dirham in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated 6 paise to 77.50 against the US dollar (21.11 versus the UAE dirham) in the opening trade on Wednesday as a surging American currency in the overseas markets and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment.

Besides, rising global crude prices impacted the rupee, forex traders said.

However, a higher opening in the Indian equity market restricted the rupee's fall, they added.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee was moving in a tight range of 77.57 to 77.48 in early deals.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 77.44 against the American currency.

The rupee fell to record low on Tuesday but the central bank later intervened in the day to halt the South Asian currency’s slide.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.11 per cent higher at 103.47.

On the Indian equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 155.56 points or 0.29 per cent higher at 54,474.03, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 26.50 points or 0.16 per cent to 16,285.80.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.38 per cent to $112.36 per barrel.

(with inputs from PTI)

• Dubai