The Indian rupee declined 17 paise to 75.95 against the US dollar (20.69 versus the UAE dirham) in opening trade on Tuesday, as muted Indian equities and persistent foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened weak at 75.94, then slipped further to 75.95 against the US dollar in early deals, registering a decline of 17 paise from the last close.

On the Indian equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 333.75 points or 0.57 per cent lower at 57,949.67, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 95.15 points or 0.55 per cent to 17,273.10.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, increased by 0.13 per cent to 96.44.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 0.39 per cent to $74.10 per barrel.

On the macro-economic front, retail inflation in India inched up to a three-month high of 4.91 per cent in November, mainly due to an uptick in food prices, government data showed on Monday.

SOURCE : KHALEEJ TIMES