Rupee rises 6 paise to 73.55 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee advanced 6 paise to 73.55 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday tracking weak American currency and positive domestic equities.

The local unit opened 3 paise lower at 73.64 at the interbank forex market, then gained ground and touched 73.55 against the greenback, up 6 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee had staged a smart rebound and close at 73.61 against the US dollar.

Forex traders said investors would look for cues from the first presidential debate between US President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden, set for Tuesday.

“The market would look forward to how Biden stands up to Trump. President Trump would want to consolidate his Republican base, touching upon issues which resonate most with them,” said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

Goenka further said that “today (Monday) is the September Currency derivatives expiry. We could see some selling at RBI fix. Month-end exporter selling could limit up side in USD-INR. It is likely to trade 73.50-73.85 range intraday.”

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.16 per cent to 94.48.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 343.64 points higher at 37,732.30 and the broader NSE Nifty rose 103.90 points to 11,154.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,080.21 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.72 per cent to USD 41.62 per barrel.