The Indian rupee opened lower at 74.45 per dollar on Thursday against the previous close of 74.37, amid selling seen in the domestic equity market.
At 11:49 IST, the Sensex was down 275.29 points or 0.63 per cent at 43,318.38, and the Nifty was down 69.50 points or 0.55 per cent at 12,679.65
“USD INR will bid both onshore and offshore due to constant buying by PSB on behalf of RBI. Yesterday oil companies also joined the Bandwagon to keep USDINR higher despite most Asian currencies have appreciated,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali – Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.
“It seems the RBI and Central Government just want rupee to be in depreciation mode to ensure export competitiveness, though a weaker Rupee has never helped exports. The opening should be around 74.35 and range 74.20/60 for the day,” he added.
The dollar-rupee November contract on the NSE was at 74.47 in the last session. The open interest remained largely unchanged for the November series contract, it added.
After closing 18 paise lower on Wednesday at 74.38 against the US dollar, the Indian rupee slumped further to open at 74.44 on Thursday.