Rupee falls 9 paise to 83.53 against dollar

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated 9 paise to settle at 83.53 against the US dollar on Thursday due to foreign capital outflows and rising crude oil prices overseas.

Forex traders said a weak American currency and firm trend in the equity markets supported the local currency even as investors remained concerned ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy decision to be announced on Friday.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.40 and touched the intra-day low of 83.50 against the greenback during the

session. The local unit finally settled at 83.53 against the American currency, down 9 paise from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled 7 paise higher at 83.44 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent lower at 104.18.

Market participants are likely to take further cues from the weekly employment data and trade balance numbers to be released later in the day. Besides, the decision of RBI’s rate-setting panel is likely to impact investor sentiment, analysts said.