Rupee falls 12 paise to 82.35 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 12 pesos to 82.35 against the US dollar in early trading on Tuesday, amid stronger inflows of dollars and foreign money from the local stock market.

In the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened lower at 82.27 per dollar and rose to 82.24 before falling to 82.35.

On Monday, the rupee settled at 82.23 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.26 percent to 103.86.

Brent crude futures fell 1.08 percent to $79.90 a barrel.

In the local stock market, BSE Sensex, consisting of 30 shares, was trading up 36.50 points, or 0.06 percent, at 58,274.35 points, while the broader NSE Nifty index rose 38.85 points, or 0.23 percent, to 17,193.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday unloading shares worth Rs 1,546.86 crore, according to exchange data.

The collapse of two US banks – Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank – has raised concerns about the health of the financial system even as US regulators take steps to get the situation under control.

Against this backdrop, some analysts also feel that the US Federal Reserve may choose to raise interest rates more slowly even as inflation continues to rise.

Domestically, retail inflation eased slightly to 6.44 percent in February but remained above the RBI’s comfort level of 6 percent for the second consecutive month.