Mumbai: The rupee settled 3 paise lower at 75.18 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday tracking strengthening American currency amid worries over mounting COVID-19 cases.
Forex traders said rupee traded in a narrow range as strong dollar, foreign fund outflows and rising COVID-19 cases dragged the local unit down, while positive domestic equities supported the rupee and restricted the losses.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 75.23, and finally settled for the day at 75.18 against the US dollar, registering a loss of 3 paise over its previous close.
It had settled at 75.15 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
During the session, it swung between a high of 75.15 and low of 75.29 against the US dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.06 per cent to 96.13.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 145.67 points higher at 36,197.48 and broader NSE Nifty rose 39.70 points to 10,657.90.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 221.70 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.82 per cent to USD 43.43 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to COVID-19 has crossed 1.35 crore and the death toll has topped 5.84 lakh.
In India, the death toll due the disease rose to 24,915 and the number of infections rose to 9,68,876, according to the health ministry.