Rupee falls against US dollar in early trade on Monday
The Indian currency depreciated due to the strength of the American currency in overseas markets.
The Indian rupee fell 21 paise to 94.97 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, according to reports by The Hindu and Economic Times. The decline was driven by the broad strength of the American currency in international markets.
Forex traders noted that a positive domestic market and declining crude oil prices helped cushion the downside. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.90 before dropping to 94.97.
On Friday, the rupee had closed at 94.76 against the US dollar. The dollar index, which measures the value of the American currency against a basket of six other currencies, was trading at 101.94, up 0.07 per cent.
Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity and Currency Research at Kotak NEO, said the USD/INR is likely to trade between 94.40 and 95.60. He added that while softer crude oil prices would assist the rupee, any renewed strength in oil could push the currency toward the higher end of that range.
Data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released on Friday showed that India's forex reserves decreased by USD 1.269 billion to USD 719.748 billion for the week ended October 30. In the domestic equity market, the Sensex rose 764.72 points to 75,216.80 during early trade.
