Mumbai, Sep 7 (IANS): The Indian rupee ended 7 paise down at 79.90 against the US dollar on Wednesday.
At Interbank foreign exchange market, rupee ended at 79.90, as against 79.83 earlier, vis-a-vis the US dollar.
"Rupee traded weak compared to dollar as prices of dollar index scaled beyond $110,. adding pressure on currencies... rupee traded below 79.92, weak by 0.12 points. Crude prices weakness helped rupee to not fall majorly but prices broadly look weak as 79.50 acts as strong resistance whereas 80.00 acts as strong support for rupee. The 50 dma (day moving average) points weakness in the rupee continues and dollar index strength increases even further as prices of dollar above $110 opens room for $114 in the short term. Rupee's next support after 80.00 is at extended level of 80.45," said Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities.
Dollar index, which gauges the the strength of greenback against the basket of six major currencies, was at 110.578.
Brent crude oil prices were at $93.04 a barrel by the closing of Indian market hours.
Meanwhile, Sensex ended 168.08 points, or 0.28 per cent, down at 59,028.91, and Nifty closed 31.20 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 17,624.40. About 2,138 shares advanced, 1,318 shares declined and 123 shares remained unchanged.
BSE Midcap and Smallcap were up 0.46 per cent and 0.73 per cent, respectively. However, BSE LargeCap ended down 0.15 per cent.