Rupee rises 14 paise to 81.67 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee rose 14 paise to 81.67 against the US dollar in early trading on Tuesday, tracking the weakness of the US currency in overseas markets.

However, forex dealers said higher crude oil prices capped sharp domestic unit gains.

In the foreign exchange market between banks, the local unit opened at 81.74, then touched the highest level at 81.67 against the US currency, registering an increase of 14 pounds from its last close.

Monday , Rupee settled at 81.81 against the dollar.

“The inflows were strong enough and despite buying by the RBI at various levels kept the rupee on the stronger side despite the dollar index rising to 101.30,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and CEO of Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

The dollar index fell 0.09 percent to 101.25.

Brent crude futures rose 0.18 percent to $82.89 a barrel.

Also read: Will the rupee trade gain currency globally?

Traders said that participants in the rupee and dollar markets are eagerly awaiting signals from the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meetings this week.

“The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points tomorrow, but their language/tone will be important in gauging the direction currencies can take,” Bhansali said.

On the local stock market, BSE Sensex was trading up 1.77 points, at 66,386.55. NSE Nifty advanced 4.40 points, or 0.02 percent, to 19,676.75.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Monday as they unloaded shares worth Rs 82.96 crore, according to exchange data.