The rupee tumbled 31 paise to end at 74.88 against the US dollar on Monday, marking its second straight session of loss amid a negative trend in domestic equities and strengthening of the greenback overseas.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened on the backfoot at 74.73 per dollar as against its previous close of 74.57.
It hovered in the range of 74.71 to 74.92 during the day, before ending at 74.88. The domestic currency has lost 34 paise in the two trading sessions to Monday.
"The Indian rupee depreciated after last week of consolidation amid risk-averse sentiments globally. The impact of inflows and lower crude oil prices have been priced in by the market while surging delta virus cases globally raised concerns for recovery," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
The near-term focus will remain on risk sentiments with strength in dollar index, and spot USD-INR could break the psychological level of 75 in coming days while 74.50 becomes near term support, Parmar added.