Rupee falls 25 paise to 76.31 against US dollar in early trade tracking weak domestic equities

Mumbai: The rupee depreciated by 25 paise to 76.31 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking weak domestic equities and strengthening of the US dollar overseas.Forex traders said the rupee opened on a weak note taking negative cues from Asian equities.The rupee opened at 76.30 at the interbank forex market and then fell further to 76.31, down 25 paise over its last close.The rupee had settled at 76.06 against the US dollar on Thursday."Asian equities and US stock futures fell on Friday morning, amid doubts about progress in the development of drugs to treat COVID-19 and weak data from the United States," Reliance Securities said in a research note.It further added that "the US dollar rose against the Euro and a basket of currencies this Friday morning and could weigh on the domestic unit intraday".Domestic bourses were trading on a negative note with benchmark indices Sensex trading 423.12 points lower at 31,439.96 and Nifty down by 120.70 points at 9,193.20.Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 5.20 per cent to $22.44 per barrel.Forex traders said market sentiment weakened after a potential antiviral drug for coronavirus reportedly failed its first trial. Market participants are concerned that the sharp rise in coronavirus cases could weigh on the global as well as domestic economy.The number of cases around the world linked to the new coronavirus has crossed over 27 lakh. In India, over 23,000 cases have been reported so far.Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 114.58 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data.The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced by 0.08 pe cent to 100.50.