Rupee falls 15 paise to 74.23 against US dollar in early trade

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The Indian rupee slumped 15 paise to 74.23 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday as the US dollar extended gains, a day after the US Federal Reserve surprised markets with its hawkish statement.

Forex traders said muted domestic equities also weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 74.10 against the dollar and lost further ground to touch 74.23, registering a fall of 15 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.08 against the US dollar.

The rupee started on a weaker note this Friday against the greenback as the US dollar extended gains a day after the Fed's hawkish statement, Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Further, Asian currencies have started flat to weaker against the greenback this morning and will weigh on sentiments, the note said adding the Reserve Bank of India could be present to curb volatility in the markets.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback''s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally lower at 91.87 down 0.02 per cent.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.77 per cent to USD 72.52 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 185.96 points or 0.36 per cent lower at 52,137.37, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 71.25 points or 0.45 per cent to 15,620.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 879.73 crore, as per exchange data.

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