Rupee falls 12 paise to 82.71 against US dollar

The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 82.71 against the US dollar in morning trade on Wednesday amid a muted trend in domestic equities. Forex traders said the rupee opened on a flat note ahead of the US Federal Reserve's much-awaited monetary policy decision later in the day.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.64 against the dollar, then lost further ground to quote at 82.71, registering a loss of 12 paise over its previous close.

In initial trade, the local unit also touched 82.62 against the American currency. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.59 against the dollar.

According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, on Wednesday, the rupee started on a flat note and Asian and emerging market peers began mixed ahead of the US Fed's monetary policy decision.

With the Fed widely expected to deliver its fourth straight 75 basis points rate hike, the key will be hints from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on the path forward, Iyer noted. However, crude oil prices have started with gains and could cap appreciation bias for the local currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.23 per cent to 111.22. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.27 per cent to $95.85 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 8.33 points or 0.01 per cent down at 61,113.01 and the broader NSE Nifty fell 0.04 per cent to 18,141.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in capital markets as they purchased shares worth Rs 2,609.94 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.