The rupee opened lower against the greenback on Wednesday, as the US dollar rallied to a 23-month high on the back of improved global risk appetite.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 70.05 a dollar, down 19 paise from its Wednesday’s close of 69.86. The home currency opened at 70.01 and touched a high and a low of 70.00 and 70.01 a dollar, respectively.

Globally, the greenback rallied to a 23-month high of 98.189 against a basket of key rivals overnight after gaining more than half a percent, largely propelled by the euro’s weakness. The index last traded slightly lower at 98.096.

Market participants awaited policy decisions by the Swedish and Turkish central banks later on Thursday.

In commodity markets, oil prices declined, hurt by record US output and rising crude stockpiles.

International Brent crude futures were at $74.53 per barrel at 0241 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close.

Crude futures rose to 2019 highs earlier in the week after the United States said on Monday it would end all exemptions for sanctions against Iran, demanding countries halt oil imports from Tehran from May or face punitive action from Washington.

A rebound in oil prices pushes up oil import costs and will widen India’s currency account deficit, say economists.

A report by Care Ratings suggested that a permanent increase in crude oil prices by 10 percent under ceteris paribus conditions could translate into the current account deficit increasing by 0.4-0.5 percent of GDP while the rupee can weaken by 3-4 per cent on an annual basis.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 974.88 crore Wednesday, according to the provisional data.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.23 percent to 7.44 percent from its previous close of 7.43 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.