Rupee drops to new low of 79.62 against USD amid domestic equities' losses

The rupee depreciated by 3 paise to close at a record low of 79.62 (provisional) against the US currency on Wednesday following a firm dollar in overseas markets and losses in the domestic stock markets.

Crude oil prices trading near USD 100 per barrel level, however, supported the local unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 79.55 against the greenback but could not hold on to gains and slipped in the negative territory. It witnessed an intra-day high of 79.53 and a low of 79.68.

It finally settled at 79.62 (provisional), down paise over its previous close of 79.59.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.09 per cent to 108.17.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 372.46 points or 0.69 per cent lower at 53,514.15, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 91.65 points or 0.57 per cent to 15,966.65.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.21 per cent to USD 100.69 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday, offloading shares worth Rs 1,565.68 crore, as per exchange data.

Retail inflation dropped marginally to 7.01 per cent in June mainly due to a slight easing in prices of vegetables and pulses, though it remained above the Reserve Bank's comfort level for the sixth month in a row.

The consumer price index (CPI) based inflation stood at 7.04 per cent in the preceding month of May and 6.26 per cent in June 2021.