The Indian rupee plummeted 54 paise to provisionally close at 74.98 against the U.S. dollar on October 6 as a stronger USD against key rivals and rising crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the Indian rupee opened at 74.63 and seen an intra-day high of 74.54 and a low of 74.99 against the U.S. dollar in day trade. The local unit finally settled at 74.98 a dollar, down 54 paise over its previous close. On Tuesday the rupee had settled at 74.44 against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.41 percent higher at 94.36. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.55 percent to USD 82.11 per barrel.

On the Indian share market, the BSE Sensex ended 555.15 points lower at 59,189.73, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 176.30 points to 17,646.00.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs1,915.08 crore, as per exchange data. Meanwhile, Gold prices traded weak with spot gold prices at COMEX (New York-based commodity exchange) trading 0.72 per cent lower at USD1,747 per ounce on Wednesday.

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