Rupee rises 10 paise to 75.50 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated 10 paise to 75.50 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking weakness in the greenback and gains in the domestic equity market.

Forex traders said positive domestic equities and weak US currency supported the local unit. Moreover, investor sentiment strengthened after Pfizer reported encouraging vaccine test results.

The rupee opened at 75.51 against the US dollar, gained further ground and touched 75.50 against the US dollar, up 10 paise over its previous close.

It had settled at 75.60 against the greenback on Wednesday.

The first of four experimental Covid-19 vaccines being tested by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech showed encouraging results in very early testing of 45 people, the companies said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.11 percent to 97.08.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 344.79 points higher at 35,759.24 and broader NSE Nifty rose 102.25 points to 10,532.30.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they sold shares worth Rs 1,696.45 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.10 percent to $42.07 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to Covid-19 has crossed 1.06 crore and the death toll has topped 5.15 lakh.