MUMBAI: The Indian rupee on Monday weakened against the dollar, tracking losses in Asian currencies.
The local unit opened at 63.84 per dollar, down 0.31% from previous close of 63.64.
The Sensex index lost 1.30% or 360.77 points to 27,451.07 points in pre-opening trade.
Uncertainty led to a weak rupee as Greece stunned creditors by calling a public vote on austerity, and the European Central Bank (ECB) startled Athens by freezing aid to Greek lenders.
Most of the Asian currencies were trading lower. South Korean won was trading down 0.564%, Malaysian ringgit was down 0.402%, Indonesian rupiah 0.262%, Philippine peso 0.239%, Thai baht 0.224%, Singapore dollar 0.155%, Taiwan dollar 0.136% and Hong Kong dollar 0.001%.
The yield on India’s 10-year benchmark bond was trading at 7.85% compared with its Friday’s close of 7.81%. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
Since the beginning of this year, the rupee has lost 1.32%, while foreign institutional investors have bought $12.82 billion from local equity and bond markets.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 96.141, up 0.70% from the previous close of 95.47.
