Rupee Falls to 90.07 Against US Dollar

Mumbai, Dec 10 (PTI) The rupee depreciated 20 paise to 90.07 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, facing pressure from importer dollar demand, tariff concerns and market anticipation of US FED Reserve policy decision.

Forex traders said all eyes will be on the US-India trade talks which could give some positivity to the rupee in the coming days.

India and the United States will commence three-day talks on the first phase of their proposed bilateral trade agreement here from December 10.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.00 against the US dollar, then lost ground and fell to 90.07 against the American currency.

On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 89.87 against the US dollar. "The rupee is expected to remain in the trading range of 89.70-90.20 for the day as the dollar index rose to 99.20 level," said Anil Kumar Bhansal, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Market is focussed on the stance the US Federal Reserve Chief chairman Jerome Powell will deliver in the US FED meeting this week, traders said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 99.23 amid anticipation of a hawkish rate cut from the FED.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 0.19 per cent at USD 62.06 per barrel in futures trade. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex was trading 134.71 points higher at 84,800.99, while the Nifty was up 41.50 points at 25,881.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 3,760.08 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.