Rupee falls 32 paise to ₹85.64 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee depreciated 32 paise to ₹85.64 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said investors are awaiting cues from US FED Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Thursday. His comments will be closely watched on how the Central Bank plans to proceed with Monetary Policy easing, they said.

Meanwhile, the weakness of the American currency and easing crude oil prices offered some support to the local unit and restricted the downfall.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at ₹85.53 and fell to ₹85.64 against the greenback, registering a loss of 32 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee pared most of its initial gains and ended the day higher by 4 paise at ₹85.32 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.23% at 100.81.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.92% to USD 64.82 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 230.76 points, or 0.28%, to 81,099.80, while the Nifty fell 54.95 points, or 0.22%, to 24,611.95.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹931.80 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.