Indian rupee continues to drop against dirham - now at 20.36

Dubai: The Indian rupee dropped to 20.36 from 20.27 against a dirham (around 01:00pm UAE time) on Thursday. In interbank foreign exchange deals, the rupee opened at 74.77 against the dollar, then inched to 74.80.

On Wednesday, the rupee dropped to its lowest level since April 23, ending at 74.85 to a dollar, after touching 74.9875. It had closed at 74.4450 on Tuesday.

Forex traders said market participants remain cautious ahead of the important RBI policy statement that is expected to release on Friday. The Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel started its three-day deliberations for the next bi-monthly monetary policy on Wednesday, amid rising global commodity prices and the need to contain inflation.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 94.22. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs8.02 billion, as per exchange data.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 541.8 points or 0.92 per cent higher at 59,731.53, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 162.90 points or 0.92 per cent to 17,808.90. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.47 per cent to $80.70 per barrel.