The Indian rupee slumped 14 paise to 73.16 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, as rising crude oil prices and strengthening of the American currency in the overseas market weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.13 against the US dollar, then fell further to 73.16 against the American currency, registering a decline of 14 paise over its previous close.

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On Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.02 against the American currency. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 percent to 92.04.

”Brent crude has firmed over USD 70/barrel, while US 10-year benchmark continues to harden this Monday and could weigh on sentiments,” Reliance Securities said in a research note. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2 percent to USD 70.75 per barrel.

However, foreign fund inflows into the equity markets, along with corporate dollar flows could cap depreciation bias, the note added. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 544.62 points higher at 50,949.94, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 159.25 points to 15,097.35.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,014.16 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.