Rupee opens 16 paise lower at 74.98 per dollar

The Indian rupee opened 16 paise lower at 74.98 per dollar on August 20 as greenback jumped against its global peers.

The dollar jumped against a basket of currencies on August 19, as traders used the opportunity of the Federal Reserve’s release of minutes from its last policymaking meeting to take profits, reported Reuters.

Kotak Securities said that the USD-INR pair may try and test 75.20 levels.

"In the current environment, any move into the 75.30-75.50 zone is an opportunity to short with a stop on a closing basis above 75.50 levels. Support is near 74.70 and 74.50 levels," Kotak said.

In the previous session, the Indian currency ended marginally lower at 74.82 per dollar.

The market sentiment, across the globe, took a hard knock after the Federal Reserve warned the US economy faced a highly uncertain path to recovery from the coronavirus-induced downturn.

The Sensex suffered strong losses in early trades due to across the board selling.

Oil prices slipped on August 20 as concerns over weak global fuel demand persisted. Data showed that US crude stockpiles fell 1.6 million barrels last week.