Rupee drops 20 paise to close at 73.47 against US dollar

The rupee depreciated by 20 paise to close at 73.47 against the US dollar on Friday amid a strengthening greenback and sustained foreign capital outflows.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 73.44 and further slipped to hit an intra-day low of 73.47 against the US currency.

The local unit gained some ground to reach 73.28 during the day. However, it finally settled at 73.47, showing a loss of 20 paise over the previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee fell 11 paise to close at 73.27. The dollar rose to a 10-week high Friday ahead of US GDP data.

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Oil prices fell over fears of possible drop in oil demand amid a rout in global markets. Brent crude was trading at $76.20 per barrel.

The BSE Sensex crashed more than 1 per cent for the second straight session Friday to close at a fresh seven-month low of 33,349.31, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 94.90 points to 10,030.00.

Foreign funds pulled out Rs 1,356.66 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,875.89 crore Thursday, provisional data showed.

The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 73.3740 and for rupee/euro at 83.4077. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 94.0503 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 65.41.