Rupee falls 9 paise against US dollar, stands at 72.02

After a four-day-winning streak, rupee took a fall of 9 paise against dollar, settling at 72.02 in early trade on Monday, at the interbank foreign exchange. The depreciation happened before RBI’s board meeting. The fresh demand for US dollars from importers is because of the rise in the prices of crude oil which is weighed in domestic units, according to dealers.

Also, the weakness in the US dollar against some global currencies and a higher opening of domestic equity markets were the reasons that limited the rupee fall ahead of RBI’s board meet.

Nominees of the finance ministry, and some independent directors will be meeting governor Urjit Patel along with his team later in the day. The agenda of the meeting would revolve around issues ranging from micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) credit to the central bank’s reserves. Both the sides are looking forward to reaching a common ground.

As of now, Brent crude, the international benchmark was trading higher by 0.72 per cent to USD 67.40 per barrel

On Friday, even with the rebound in oil prices and dollar stronger, rupee strengthened by 4 paise and closed at a two-month high 71.93 against US dollar.

Provisional data revealed that Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 844.82 crore on Friday. The BSE Sensex was at 159.66 points, which is0.45 per cent higher at 35,616.82 in opening trade.