The rupee weakened by 36 paise on Thursday to close at 71.16 per US dollar amid firming crude oil prices and persistent foreign capital outflows. Heavy dollar demand from banks and importers and strengthening of the greenback against major currencies overseas weighed on the domestic unit, forex traders said. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened lower at 70.90 and fell further to touch the day's low of 71.18. It finally ended at 71.16 per dollar, down by 36 paise against its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee had ended 10 paise lower at 70.80.
"Higher crude prices and rising dollar index both are weighing on the rupee. The ICE Dollar Index has resumed its upward journey and has reached above 97, the highest level for the last two months," said VK Sharma, head PCG and Capital Markets Strategy, HDFC Securities.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading at $64.47 per barrel, higher by 1.35 per cent.
Meanwhile, the domestic equity benchmarks fell for the sixth straight session on Thursday. The 30-share BSE Sensex settled 157.89 points, or 0.44 per cent, down at 35,876.22. The broader NSE Nifty lost 47.60 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 10,746.05.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 250.23 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,225.24 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 70.9408 and for rupee/euro at 79.9966. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 91.2791 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 63.88.
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