Rupee rises 7 paise to 74.15 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee gained 7 paise to 74.15 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, amid a muted trend in the domestic equities.

Traders said the domestic unit is trading in a narrow range as investors are awaiting cues from the key speech from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Moreover, a firm dollar in the overseas markets and rising crude prices weighed on the investor sentiment, forex traders added.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.17 against the dollar, then inched higher to 74.15, up 7 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.22 against the US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.04 per cent to $71.81 per barrel.

Meanwhile, according to a media report, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has said that all the actions of the central bank will be calibrated and well-timed, as the Reserve Bank does not want to give any sudden shock or any sudden surprises to the markets.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.06 per cent to 93.00.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 72.44 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 55,876.66, while the broader NSE Nifty inched 0.80 points higher to 16,637.70.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,974.48 crore, as per exchange data.