Mumbai, Oct 6 (IANS): The Indian rupee depreciated to a five-month low on Wednesday amid strengthening US dollar as well as rising crude oil prices.

Accordingly, the rupee ended at Rs 74.98 per US dollar on Wednesday.

Experts said that USD-INR (Spot) pair is expected to trade with a positive bias in the range of 74.40 and 75.20 in the coming days.

Along with strengthening dollar, persistent rise in crude oil prices have impacted the Indian currency.

Besides, the Indian equity market ended Wednesday's session deep in the red. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 59,189.73 points, down 555.15 points or 0.93 per cent from its previous close.

"Rupee fell sharply primarily on the back of weakness in domestic and global equities and also as the dollar rose to fresh one-year level. Market participants remain cautious also ahead of the important RBI policy statement that is scheduled to be released this Friday," said Motilal Oswal Financial Services' forex and bullion analyst Gaurang Somaiyaa.

"Any concerns over higher inflation in India in the RBI policy meeting could also weigh on the rupee. Global crude oil prices have rallied steadily in the past few weeks and that is adding to worries for India's elevated oil import bill," Somaiyaa added.

According to Nish Bhatt, Founder and CEO, Millwood Kane International: "The Indian rupee has been trading weak throughout this week. It fell to an over five-month low on concerns of rising crude prices and their likely impact on inflation.

"Crude oil prices rose to a seven-year high post-OPEC meeting earlier this week that decided to not increase oil output. The weakness in most Asian currencies also played its role in rupee depreciation."