Rupee falls 29 paise to close at 74.57 against U.S. dollar

The rupee on Tuesday slumped 29 paise to close at 74.57 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.

Forex traders said growing concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus and its impact on economic recovery as well as firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.49 and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.46 and a low of 74.61 against the U.S. dollar.

The local unit finally settled at 74.57, down 29 paise over its previous close of 74.28.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 % up at 96.23.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.39 % to $ 79.29 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 672.71 points or 1.14 % higher at 59,855.93, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 179.55 points or 1.02 % to 17,805.25.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Monday, as they purchased shares worth ₹ 902.64 crore, as per exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India’s exports in December surged 37 % on an annual basis to $ 37.29 billion, the highest-ever monthly figure, on the back of healthy performance by sectors like engineering, textiles and chemicals, even as the trade deficit widened to $ 21.99 billion.

Imports in December too rose by 38 % to $ 59.27 billion on account of an increase in oil imports, which soared 65.17 % to $ 15.9 billion, government data showed on Monday.