Rupee tumbles 44 paise to end at 73.47 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee slumped 44 paise to close at 73.47 against the US dollar on Thursday as rise in demand for the American currency from oil importers weighed on forex market sentiment.

Besides, stronger greenback against its key rival currencies and subdued domestic equities exerted pressure on the domestic unit.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened on a weak note at 73.23, lost further ground during the session and finally settled for the day at 73.47 against the greenback, registering a fall of 44 paise over its last close. During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 73.23 and a low of 73.48 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.18 per cent to 93.01.

Meanwhile, benchmark equity indices closed lower in a volatile trade on Thursday, dragged by losses mainly in banking counters as overall weak macroeconomic scenario weighed on investor sentiment.

The BSE Sensex ended 95.09 points or 0.24 per cent lower at 38,990.94; and the NSE Nifty closed 7.55 points or 0.07 per cent down at 11,527.45.

On the Sensex chart, ICICI Bank was the top loser, shedding around 2 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and PowerGrid.

On the other hand, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Maruti, Sun Pharma and Asian Paints were among the gainers.

Sectorally, BSE bankex, finance, metal, energy, realty and utilities indices fell up to 1.51 per cent.

While consumer durables, IT, teck, capital goods, industrials and auto indices rose up to 3.37 per cent.

Broader midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the BSE benchmark, ending up to 0.74 per cent higher.

Bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the red, while Tokyo and Seoul closed with gains.

Stock exchanges on in Europe were trading on a positive note in early deals.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.40 per cent lower at $43.81 per barrel.