Rupee remained under pressure against the US dollar on Wednesday, slipping 3 paise to 95.97 in early trade. The fall came as demand for the greenback from state-run oil marketing companies and higher crude oil prices weighed the currency down.Rupee began the session at 95.87 at the interbank foreign exchange market but weakened to 95.97. This came a day after the currench had closed at 95.94, marginally higher and just above the psychologically important 96-per-dollar mark.Dollar sales by state-run banks on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India in both the spot and forward markets are restricting the USD/INR pair below the 96.00 level.The rupee is also facing pressure from foreign portfolio outflows, which have reached around $2.2 billion this month. Firm US yields have added to the pressure on the USD/INR pair.“The Reserve Bank has been an active presence, dealers report state-run bank dollar sales, and the $14.9 billion fall in reserves to $766 billion in the latest week is consistent with sizeable intervention, while portfolio outflows of around $2.2 billion this month and firm US yields keep the pressure on,” Anindya Banerjee, head of commodity and currency research, Kotak Securities.The dollar index was trading at 101.40, gaining 0.04 per cent. The index tracks the US dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies.Higher oil prices also remained a factor for the rupee. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was up 0.82 per cent at $103.43 per barrel in futures trade.Meanwhile, domestic equities opened higher. BSE Sensex gained 190 points to 72,733.04, while NSE Nifty rose 22 points to 22,735.20 in early trade.Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained sellers in the equity market on Tuesday, offloading shares worth Rs 9,980.22 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.
