Rupee snaps 3-day winning streak, drops 17 paise to 72.62/USD

Mumbai: Halting its three-day winning run, the rupee on Monday declined by 17 paise to close at 72.62 (provisional) against the US dollar tracking the strengthening of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at 72.38 but pared the gains to close at 72.62 a dollar, registering a decline of 17 paise over its previous close of 72.45.

During the session, the local unit hit an intra-day high of 72.34 and a low of 72.65.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04 per cent to 90.07.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 514.56 points or 1 per cent higher at 51,937.44, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 147.15 points or 0.95 per cent to close at 15,582.80.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.06 per cent to USD 69.45 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday as they purchased shares worth Rs 913.59 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, India reported the lowest daily new coronavirus infections in 50 days with 1,52,734 cases, taking the tally to 2,80,47,534 on Monday, while the active caseload declined to 20,26,092, the Health Ministry said. (AGENCIES)