Mumbai, Mar 8 (PTI) Sliding for the fifth consecutive day, the rupee depreciated by 7 paise to close at a lifetime low of 77 against the US dollar on Tuesday, weighed by surging crude oil prices amid the Russia-Ukraine war.
Heavy foreign fund outflows and prevailing risk aversion globally added to the woes, forex traders said.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 77.02 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 76.71 and a low of 77.05.
The rupee finally finished at 77.00, down 7 paise over its previous close of 76.93.
Analysts said the deepening Russia-Ukraine conflict has sapped risk appetite in the market, pushing investors towards safe-haven assets.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.18 per cent to 99.11.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 581.34 points or 1.10 per cent higher at 53,424.09, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 150.30 points or 0.95 per cent to 16,013.45.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 2.73 per cent to USD 126.57 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 8,142.60 crore, as per stock exchange data.
Gaurang Somaiya, Forex & Bullion Analyst, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said uncertainty continues to keep participants on the edge, while on the domestic front, higher global crude oil prices are disturbing the overall market sentiment.
"This week, focus will be on the ECB policy statement and expectation is that the ECB will wait until the last months of this year for its first interest rate rise in over a decade. In the next couple of sessions we expect the USD-INR (Spot) to trade sideways with a positive bias and quote in the range of 76.40 and 77.20," Somaiya added.
Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said, "The market still overhangs on the Russian oil supply, which is why 76.45 remains vital resistance for the rupee. The range for rupee can be seen between 76.45-77.25.
