Mumbai

The rupee slumped by 19 paise to close below the 73 mark against the US currency on Friday due to a stronger dollar and risk aversion in the global markets. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 72.98 against the greenback and traded in the range of 72.73 - 73.09 during the day.

The rupee finally ended at 73.02 against the American currency, registering a fall of 19 paise over its previous closing.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.83 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.35 per cent to 91.95.

"US Dollar gained strength amid surge in bond yields. US treasury yields jumped on expectation that rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and government stimulus efforts will accelerate economic growth and inflation," said Saif Mukadam, Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Further, US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated banks intention to keep easy monetary policies but failed to express concern about recent rise in yields, Mukadam said.

Forex traders said the local unit slumped on rising crude oil prices. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.59 per cent to USD 68.47 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 440.76 points or 0.87 per cent lower at 50,405.32, while the broader NSE Nifty declined by 142.65 points or 0.95 per cent to 14,938.10.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 223.11 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

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