The rupee fell 22 paise and slipped below the 76 per US dollar level in early trade on Wednesday as persistent foreign fund outflows and Omicron concerns kept pressure on the local unit.
Besides, according to forex traders, a muted trend in domestic equities and a stronger US currency weighed on the domestic unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 76.05, then lost further ground and touched 76.10 against the US dollar in early deals, registering a fall of 22 paise over its previous close.
In the previous session, the rupee had lost 10 paise to close at an 18-month low of 75.88 against the US dollar.
Traders said the reason for the fall in the rupee is also the possibility of faster spread of the Omicron variant. Delhi has reported four more cases of Omicron, while eight more persons have tested positive for the COVID-19 variant in Maharashtra on Tuesday, taking the number to 61 in the country.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.06 per cent to 96.51.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 279.59 points or 0.48 per cent lower at 57,837.50, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 79.25 points or 0.46 per cent to 17,245.65.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.04 per cent to $72.93 a barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday, pulling out Rs 763.18 crore, as per provisional data.