Rupee slips 10 paise to 71.33 against USD in early trade

Mumbai, October 15

The Indian rupee opened on a cautious note and fell 10 paise to 71.33 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as concerns regarding US-China trade talks kept investors edgy.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday said US and Chinese officials would hold talks by phone this week and next as they worked to finalise the “phase one” trade deal.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 71.26 then fell to 71.33 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 10 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Monday had closed at 71.23 against the US dollar.

President Donald Trump on Friday had said that the United States had reached a “very substantial” Phase 1 trade deal with China.

However, the announcement came with a rider that the agreement was still to be put on to the paper, which would take somewhere between three to five weeks.

Market participants, said foreign fund inflows, higher opening in domestic equities, weakening of the American currency vis-a-vis other currencies overseas and easing crude prices supported the local currency and restricted the fall.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.05 per cent to 98.40. PTI