Rupee drops 8 paise to 73.55 against USD

The rupee dropped by eight paise to close at 73.55 against the US dollar on Monday, extending its falling streak to a third day due to a spike in global crude oil prices and strong American currency.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened lower at 73.76 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.19.

The local currency finally ended at 73.55 against the American currency, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous closing. On Friday, the rupee had settled at 73.47 against the American currency.

Since February 25, the rupee has weakened by 1.6 per cent.

The rupee depreciated against the US currency, tracking the strength of the greenback and importers' dollar demand, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

"However, depreciation was capped after the US Treasury yields took a breather this Monday," Iyer said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.22 per cent to 91.07.