Rupee falls 2 paise to 89.24 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee stayed weak trading 2 paise lower at 89.24 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday due to increased demand of American currency from importers amid volatile global trade.

According to forex traders, the rupee found support from fresh inflow of foreign capital into domestic stock markets and lower crude oil prices in the international market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.19 and lost further to trade at 89.24 against the greenback in initial deals, down 2 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee settled flat at 89.22 against the greenback on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.09 per cent lower at 99.43.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.43 per cent to $62.86 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rose 305.82 points or 0.36 per cent to 85,915.33 in early trade while Nifty went up 69.15 points or 0.26 per cent to 26,274.45.

Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 4,778.03 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.