The rupee fell 23 paise to 76.65 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, reflecting the dollar’s surge in the international market.

The rupee opened at 76.58 against the dollar on the interbank foreign exchange, then plummeted to an early low of 76.65 in early trades, a drop of 23 paise from its previous close.

The rupee fell 25 paise versus the US dollar on Friday, closing at 76.42.

According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee began down against the US dollar, pressured down by hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures sank 2.85% to USD 103.61 per barrel, the global benchmark.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of six currencies, increased by 0.02 percent to 101.23.

On the domestic stock market, the 30-share Sensex was down 645.45 points, or 1.13 percent, at 56,551.70, while the broader NSE Nifty was down 189.05 points, or 1.1%, at 16,982.90.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Friday, offloading shares worth Rs 2,461.72 crore.