USD/INR closed at 73.31 against its opening at 73.37. The rupee fell sharply against the US dollar in early trade today on the back of looming worry over downside risks to global economic growth caused by coronavirus, even as the US Federal Reserve is expected to ease its monetary policy further. This comes a day after the Fed delivered an emergency cut in federal funds rate target range by a sharp 50 basis points to 1.00-1.25% late Tuesday. Further, the US House of Representatives approved a funding bill of $8.3 bln to combat the spread of the deadly virus, sending the emergency legislation to the Senate. This weighed on the greenback against a basket of major currencies in overnight trade, but investors in Asian trade today remained concerned about the extent of impact monetary policy easing from global central banks could have on the damage to economic growth from the virus. As a result, safe-haven assets such as Japanese yen and gold attracted demand from investors seeking flight to safety. Traders back home expect the Reserve Bank of India to lower its repo rate in tandem with the co-ordinated response by global central banks to cope up with the slowing growth. Market players may refrain from placing large bets against the Indian currency in early trade given the speculation that the Reserve Bank of India has intervened through dollar/rupee futures and spot market around 73.60 a dollar levels on Wednesday. Importers may step up purchases of the greenback noting rise in prices of Brent crude oil in early trade, which may further weigh on the rupee.