Rupee gains 13 paise to 73.92 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated by 13 paise to 73.92 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, supported by the weakening of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.94 against the American dollar, then inched higher to quote 73.92, registering a rise of 13 paise from the last close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.05 against the greenback.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13 per cent lower at 95.87.

"Rupee has risen above 74.00 with opening around 73.95 and flows continue to take rupee higher as importers are absent from the market as is RBI. The US FED may be in for a rate hike but that has overall not affected USDINR," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 37.9 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 60,357.73, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 14.65 points or 0.08 per cent to 17,988.65.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.40 per cent to USD 81.19 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 124.23 crore, as per stock exchange data.