The Indian rupee slumped 16 paise to 72.99 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, as a rebound in the US dollar and muted opening in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 72.98 against the US dollar, then fell further to 72.99 against the American currency, registering a fall of 16 paise over its previous close.

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On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.83 against the American currency. ”The Indian rupee started this Friday on a weaker note against the US dollar weighed by a rebound of the US dollar and an uptick on the Treasury yields,” Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04 percent to 91.67. ”The US dollar extended gains on Friday morning in Asian trade supported by a rise in the US Treasury Yields amid continued dovish tone by the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell,” the Reliance Securities note said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 33.44 points lower at 50,812.64, and the broader NSE Nifty declined 8.75 points to 15,072. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 223.11 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.94 percent to USD 67.37 per barrel.

First Published:Mar 5, 2021 10:46 AM IST