Rupee slips 4 paise to 75.76 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 4 paise to 75.76 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday as weak domestic equities coupled with strong US dollar and rising coronavirus cases weighed on investor sentiments.

Forex traders said investor sentiment weakened after the US threatened new tariffs on European imports amid escalating trade war fears. Besides, border tension with China and rising COVID-19 cases dragged down the local unit.

The rupee opened at 75.76 against the US dollar, down 4 paise over its previous close.

It had settled at 75.72 against the greenback on Wednesday.

"The risk sentiment was soured as US trade representative has proposed imposing tariffs on USD 3.1 billion of imports from France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The proposal has been put out to seek public opinion until July 26," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

Besides, the IMF has cut its projections for world economic growth. It now sees an even deeper recession and slower recovery than earlier, Goenka added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 97.27.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 144.68 points lower at 34,724.30 and broader NSE Nifty fell 27.60 points to 10,277.70.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they bought shares worth Rs 1,766.90 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.79 per cent to USD 39.99 per barrel.

The number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 94.08 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.82 lakh.

In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 14,894 and the number of infections spiked to 4,73,105, according to the health ministry.