The rupee declined 15 paise to close at a new lifetime low of 79.60 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday as a strong greenback overseas and weakness in domestic equities continued to weigh on investor sentiments. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened weak at 79.55 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 79.53 and a low of 79.66. It finally settled at 79.60 (provisional), down 15 paise over its previous close of 79.45. The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.48 per cent to 108.54. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 508.62 points or 0.94 per cent lower at 53,886.61, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 157.70 points or 0.97 per cent to 16,058.30. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2.27 per cent to USD 104.67 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, as per exchange data.
