Rupee rises 6 paise to 90.89 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee gained 6 paise to 90.89 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday aided by a weaker greenback and a strong opening in the domestic equity markets.

However, a sharp rise in global crude oil prices and FII outflows prevented sharp gains in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.94 against the greenback before rising to 90.89, registering a gain of 6 paise from its previous close.

The rupee traded in a narrow range on Tuesday and settled 6 paise lower at 90.95 against the US dollar.

"Dollar buying continued on Tuesday as the rupee ended at 90.95 with hardly a 6 paise movement for the whole day. The range for the day could be around 90.75-91.25 with dips to the dollar getting bought," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent down at 97.77.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.37 per cent to USD 71.74 per barrel in futures trade.

The domestic equity markets rebounded with the Sensex jumping 558.79 points to 82,784.71, and the Nifty climbed 157.05 points to 25,581.70.

On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 102.53 crore, according to exchange data.