The rupee on Tuesday slumped 29 paise to close at 74.57 (provisional) against the US 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.

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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 US 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 percent up at 96.23. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.39 percent to USD 79.29 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 672.71 points or 1.14 percent higher at 59,855.93, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 179.55 points or 1.02 percent to 17,805.25. Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Monday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 902.64 crore, as per exchange data.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, India's exports in December surged 37 percent on an annual basis to USD 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 USD 21.99 billion. Imports in December too rose by 38 percent to USD 59.27 billion on account of an increase in oil imports, which soared 65.17 percent to USD 15.9 billion, government data showed on Monday.

First Published:Jan 4, 2022 4:30 PM IST