Rupee opens on flat note, rises 5 paise to 75.60 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Jun 29 () The rupee opened on a flat note and rose 5 paise to 75.60 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday as weak greenback restricted the losses stemming from concerns over rising COVID-19 cases.

Forex traders said weak domestic equities, foreign fund outflows and rising COVID-19 cases weighed on investor sentiments. However, weak American dollar supported the local unit and restricted the decline.

The rupee opened on a flat note at the interbank forex market at 75.64 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 75.60 against the US dollar, up 5 paise over its last close.

It had settled at 75.65 against the US dollar on Friday.

"Cues from Asia remained mixed as most Asian currencies were flat this Monday," Reliance Securities said in a research note adding that "weak US dollar could offset losses stemming from fears of slowdown in the economy due rise in COVID-19 cases back home and globally."

The number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 1.01 crore and the death toll has topped 5.01 lakh.

Meanwhile, in India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 16,475 and the number of infections rose to 5,48,318, according to the health ministry.

On the equities front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was quoting 470.15 points lower at 34,701.12 and the broader Nifty fell 93.85 points to 10,289.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 753.18 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.93 per cent to USD 40.23 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.11 per cent to 97.32. DRR ANS ANS