Rupee falls 23 paise to 82.51 against US dollar

Snapping a three-day rising streak, the rupee declined 23 paise to close at 82.51 against the US dollar on Monday, pressured by a lacklustre trend in the domestic equity markets and foreign capital outflows.

Forex traders said risk-off sentiment in global markets also weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 82.54 against the greenback and witnessed a high of 82.50 and a low of 82.74.

It finally settled at 82.51, down 23 paise over its previous close of 82.28.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.02 per cent lower at 104.79.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.02 per cent to USD 75.32 per barrel.

''Rupee traded weak... due to some strength in dollar index as price inched towards 105. US CPI data on Tuesday evening and Fed's rate hike decision on Thursday shall be prime data for currency traders to look out for...,'' said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.

Rupee is expected to trade weak at 82.35-82.95, he added. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 51.10 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 62,130.57, while the broader NSE Nifty closed almost flat at 18,497.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 138.81 crore, according to exchange data.

After investing over Rs 36,200 crore last month, foreign investors continued their positive momentum and infused Rs 4,500 crore in the Indian equity markets so far in December, mainly due to the decline in the dollar index.

However, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) turned sellers in the last four trading sessions and pulled out Rs 3,300 crore as they are adopting a cautious stance ahead of the US Federal Reserve's decision on the interest rate.