Rupee slips 7 paise to 88.77 on weak equities, rising crude prices

Mumbai: The rupee fell 7 paise to 88.77 against the dollar in early trade on Monday, weighed down by higher crude oil prices and continuous outflow of foreign capital amid uncertainties over global trade.

According to forex traders, negative sentiment in domestic equities also pressured the Indian currency, even though a weak American currency provided some cushion at a lower level.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.73 and slipped further to trade at 88.77 against the greenback, down 7 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee had ended 1 paisa lower at 88.70 against the dollar on Friday, a day after crashing 47 paise on Thursday, following the commentary of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 99.59.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.31 per cent to USD 64.97 per barrel in futures trading.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 258.83 points or 0.31 per cent to 83,679.88 in early trade, while the Nifty fell 47.95 points or 0.19 per cent to 25,674.15.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 6,769.34 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The RBI data released on Friday showed the country's forex reserves dropped by USD 6.925 billion to USD 695.355 billion during the week ended October 24. The reserves had increased by USD 4.496 billion to USD 702.28 billion during the previous week.

On the macroeconomic front, the Union government's fiscal deficit stood at 36.5 per cent of the full-year target at the end of the first half of FY26, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday.

In the first six months of the previous financial year, the gap between the government's expenditure and revenue was 29 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25.