The rupee declined 18 paise to 76.62 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Monday as intensifying geopolitical risks due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed investors towards safe-haven assets. Unabated foreign capital outflows and a strong American currency overseas also weighed on investor sentiment, forex traders said.
However, higher domestic equities supported the local currency and restricted the loss, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 76.63 against the US dollar. Later, it gained slightly to 76.62, registering a decline of 18 paise over the last close.
On Friday, the rupee had settled almost flat at 76.44 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07 per cent to 99.25. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 1.91 per cent to $110.52 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 209.01 points or 0.38 per cent higher at 55,759.31, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 32.30 points or 0.19 per cent to 16,662.75. The Russian invasion expanded on Sunday to Yavoriv, which has long been used to train Ukrainian soldiers. Officials were due to resume talks on Monday, as per Russian state news agency Tass.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,263.90 crore, according to stock exchange data.