Rupee slips 4 paise to 73.18 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee slipped 4 paise to 73.18 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as strengthening US dollar and muted opening in domestic equities weighed on the local currency.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee was trading in a narrow range. It opened at 73.17 against the American currency, lost further ground and was trading at 73.18, down 4 paise from its previous close.

The rupee had closed at 73.14 against the US dollar on Friday.

"RBI forex reserves rose to a new record high of USD 541.4 billion. The rupee strengthened on break of 73.25 on Friday. We expect the 72.50-73.50 range to hold this week," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

Goenka further said that "developments on the Indo-China border will have to be closely tracked. Any escalation poses up side risks to USD-INR".

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.17 per cent to 92.87.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 42.60 points lower at 38,314.58, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 12.40 points to 11,321.45.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 1,888.78 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.08 per cent to USD 42.20 per barrel.

INPUTS: PTI