The rupee opened on a flat note and was trading in a narrow range against the US dollar in opening session on Wednesday, as investors were cautious after the first US Presidential debate. At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.81 against the US dollar, then gained ground and touched 73.79 against the American currency. In volatile trade, the local unit also touched 73.86. Rupee was later trading at 73.77 against the greenback, amid selling seen in domestic equity market. On Tuesday, the Indian rupee settled at 73.86 against the US dollar. Traders said investors were cautious after the first US Presidential debate. Moreover, month-end dollar bids and equity-related outflows also weighed on market sentiments. During the first of the three presidential debates between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden in Cleveland, Ohio, the two contenders clashed over each other’s personality, past record, family and their visions. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.04% to 93.92. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 5.61 points lower at 37,967.61, and the broader NSE Nifty rose 4.25 points to 11,226.65. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth ₹ 1,456.66 crore on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.15% to USD 40.56 per barrel.
