Rupee slips 5 paise to 71.02 against U.S dollar

The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 5 paise to 71.02 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking cautious opening in domestic equities.

Forex traders said rupee is trading in a narrow range amid lack of cues on the domestic front.

Sustained foreign fund inflows and weakening of the U.S. dollar vis-a-vis other currencies overseas supported the rupee, while muted opening in domestic equities weighed on the local unit.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.01 then fell to 71.02 against the U.S. dollar, showing a decline of 5 paise over its previous closing.

The Indian rupee on Wednesday had closed at 70.97 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.02% to $66.16 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, as they purchased shares worth ₹1,836.81 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.07% to 97.33.

Domestic bourses opened on a cautious note on Thursday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 53.46 points down at 41,505.11 and Nifty down by 16.15 points at 12,205.50.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.74% in morning trade.