Rupee depreciates by 18 paise vs US dollar

Rupee depreciated by 18 paise to start Tuesday's session at 81.79 vs dollar amid rise in the value of greenback against a basket of six peers. Crude oil benchmarks traded mixed on Tuesday. The dollar index — which measures the American currency against the yen, the pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona, the Swiss franc and the euro — rose, but was trading below 102. At the last count, the index was trading 0.2 percent lower at 102.1.

Crude oil prices fell earlier on Tuesday, but soon rose, reversing the initial losses. Brent crude futures were trading 0.3 percent higher at $84.7 per barrel at the last count. WTI futures, however, were trading 0.6 percent lower at $79.6 per barrel at the last count.

"Overall, a mild recovery in the USD and a fall in Yuan could keep the rupee under pressure a bit. However, we expect the pair to find resistance near the 81.75-82.00 zone, where exporters could be attracted to participate and sell long-term forwards. Over the short term, the momentum in the pair is likely to be confined between 80.80 to 82.00," said Amit Pabari, Managing Director at CR Forex.