Rupee weakens 9 paise against US dollar ahead of Fed policy meet

A strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflow weighed on the rupee, amid rising current account deficit in the December quarter.

The rupee lost 9 paise against the US dollar to 65.03 in opening trade on Monday, as the greenback firmed up ahead of US Federal Reserve’s policy meet this week.

A strong dollar and sustained foreign fund outflow weighed on the domestic unit amid rising current account deficit in the December quarter, a currency dealer said.

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The current account deficit rose to 2% of the GDP a t$13.5 billion in the December quarter, up from $8 billion or 1.4% in the year-ago period, on the back of higher trade deficit, RBI data showed.

On Friday, the rupee had ended 1 paisa lower at 64.94 against the US dollar.

Foreign investors withdrew a net Rs 150.46 crore from stocks on Friday, according to provisional data.

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--PTI