Rupee rises 8 paise to 81.93 against US dollar

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 81.93 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid weak American currency and robust inflow of foreign funds into domestic equity markets.

Easing of crude prices boosted the local unit, forex traders said, while the dollar was under pressure amid concerns of further rate hike by US Federal Reserve as indicated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his Tuesday's speech.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened stronger at 81.94 and touched the peak of 81.90. The currency later traded at 81.93 against the greenback, registering a gain of 8 paise from its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.01 against the dollar.

"Slippage past 82.04 has made 81.9 vulnerable again, exposing 81.75-55. We do not expect a collapse though. We will retain upswing expectation, as long as 81.9 vicinity holds," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said in his USD-INR outlook.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.05 per cent at 102.03.

Crude oil price benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.30 per cent lower at USD 76.89 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 72.47 points or 0.11 per cent to 63,450.68, while broader NSE Nifty slipped 7.30 points or 0.4 per cent to 18,849.55.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 4,013.10 crore, according to exchange data.