<p>Mumbai: The rupee rallied for the fourth straight session and rose 10 paise to 85.54 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a renewed inflow of foreign funds in domestic equities and a weak American currency.</p><p>However, subdued equity market sentiment and a slight recovery in crude oil prices put the local currency under pressure, according to forex traders.</p><p>At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.48 and slipped to 85.54 against the greenback in early deals, trading 10 paise higher from its previous closing level.</p><p>The rupee closed Wednesday's session with a gain of 16 paise at 85.64 against the dollar.</p>.Markets trade lower in early trade dragged down by IT stocks.<p>The Indian currency strengthened by 104 paise in the preceding three sessions since the level of 86.68 against the greenback, its closing mark recorded on April 9.</p><p>Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally higher by 0.14 per cent at 99.28.</p><p>Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.96 per cent to USD 66.48 per barrel in futures trade.</p><p>Gold prices soared by Rs 1,650 to hit an all-time high of Rs 98,100 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday amid a global rush for safe-haven bets triggered by an escalated trade war between the US and China.</p><p>In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 333.47 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 76,710.82, while the Nifty declined 127.55 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 23,309.65.</p><p>Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,936.42 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.</p>
<p>Mumbai: The rupee rallied for the fourth straight session and rose 10 paise to 85.54 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a renewed inflow of foreign funds in domestic equities and a weak American currency.</p><p>However, subdued equity market sentiment and a slight recovery in crude oil prices put the local currency under pressure, according to forex traders.</p><p>At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.48 and slipped to 85.54 against the greenback in early deals, trading 10 paise higher from its previous closing level.</p><p>The rupee closed Wednesday's session with a gain of 16 paise at 85.64 against the dollar.</p>.Markets trade lower in early trade dragged down by IT stocks.<p>The Indian currency strengthened by 104 paise in the preceding three sessions since the level of 86.68 against the greenback, its closing mark recorded on April 9.</p><p>Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally higher by 0.14 per cent at 99.28.</p><p>Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.96 per cent to USD 66.48 per barrel in futures trade.</p><p>Gold prices soared by Rs 1,650 to hit an all-time high of Rs 98,100 per 10 grams in the national capital on Wednesday amid a global rush for safe-haven bets triggered by an escalated trade war between the US and China.</p><p>In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 333.47 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 76,710.82, while the Nifty declined 127.55 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 23,309.65.</p><p>Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,936.42 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.</p>