Rupee falls 9 paise to 76.15 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee dropped 9 paise to trade at 76.15 against the US dollar in opening deals on Monday as sustained sell-offs in domestic equities by foreign investors hurt the local currency's recovery prospects.

Starting off on a tepid note, the rupee traded in a narrow band of 76.13 to 76.16 in early deals at the interbank foreign exchange. Like domestic equities, which have been in the bear territory of late, the rupee too has given up to pressures created by a host of factors like surging cases of Omicron variant of Covid and weak global sentiment .

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares in the capital market on Friday, as they sold equities worth Rs 2,069.90 crore, exchange data showed. Last week, the local unit recorded its fourth weekly decline amid growing concerns over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.