Rupee slips 4 paise to close at 77.59 against US dollar

The rupee slipped by 4 paise to close at 77.59 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, weighed down by a negative trend in domestic equities and unabated foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 77.56 against the greenback, and finally settled at 77.59, down 4 paise over its previous close.

During the trading session, the rupee touched an intra-day low of 77.67 and a high of 77.51.

On Monday, the rupee recovered from record lows and settled 15 paise higher at 77.55 against the US currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 102.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.37 per cent to $113 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee drifted lower after two days of consolidation on the back of the risk-averse sentiment and foreign fund outflows.

"The rupee has been underperforming among Asian currencies amid a weaker macro environment and foreign fund outflows," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

While the dollar index has fallen further to the downside and eying the psychological level of 100, the local unit is weakening along with other emerging market currencies on growth and inflation worries.

"So far this month, the rupee has been the worst-performing currency among Asian currencies with a loss of 1.6 per cent after the RBI joined the global central banks in raising interest rates to curb inflation," Parmar said.

In the current calendar year, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth $21.25 billion and $1.82 billion of debt.

Near-term outlook for USDINR remains bullish as long as it trades above 76.70, while on the higher side it faces strong resistance in the area of 77.80 to 78, Parmar noted.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 236 points or 0.43 per cent lower at 54,052.61, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 89.55 points or 0.55 per cent to 16,125.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,951.17 crore, as per stock exchange data.