Rupee falls 23 paise to 89.94 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 23 paise to 89.94 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by foreign fund outflows and recovery in crude oil prices.
Forex traders said a negative trend in domestic equities, dollar demand from importers, and trade deal uncertainty further dented investor sentiment.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 89.84 against the dollar but lost ground to trade at 89.94, down 23 paise from its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee pared initial gains and settled for the day lower by eight paise at 89.71 against the US dollar.
Forex and equity markets were closed on Thursday for Christmas.
After strengthening to the 89.00 level last week, the rupee has again started to weaken in holiday-thin trade, with FPIs continuing to sell equity and buy dollars after a brief pause, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.08 per cent lower at 97.89.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.16 per cent higher at USD 62.34 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 183.42 points to 85,225.28 in early trade, while the Nifty dipped 46.45 points to 26,095.65.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,721.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
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Bihar CM Nitish Kumar takes oath as Rajya Sabha member
New Delhi (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha, marking the end of his two-decade rule in the eastern state and paving the way for a new chief minister.
The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan in his chamber at a brief ceremony. The Chairman later welcomed him as a member of the Upper House and also on his return in Parliament.
Kumar took the oath in Hindi in the presence of Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also leader of the house, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Ram Nath Thakur and Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Bihar deputy chief minister Samrat Chaudhary was also present at the oath-taking.
JDU leader and party's working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, Congress chief whip in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh, besides BJP MP and former union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy and BJP chief whip in Lok Sabha Sanjay Jaiswal, were among those present during the oath-taking.
"Vice President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, administered the oath to Shri Nitish Kumar as an elected Member of Rajya Sabha, from Bihar, at Parliament House today," the Vice President's office said on X, while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.
After the oath-taking, Kumar came out of the new Parliament building and spoke about the time he was a member of the Lok Sabha and sat in the old Parliament building.
As Kumar assumes the Rajya Sabha role, it marks the end of his long two-decade rule in Bihar. Kumar will soon resign as chief minister and the NDA is likely to elect a new chief minister of Bihar on April 14.
He has already resigned as a member of the State Legislative Council on March 30 after he was elected to Rajya Sabha.
The JD(U) supremo was elected to the Upper House of Parliament on March 16, and he had to quit as an MLC in the 14-day period after his election.
