Rupee gains 18 paise against US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated by 18 paise to 74.16 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday, tracking strong gains in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened sharply higher at 74.15 against the American dollar, then inched slightly lower to quote 74.16, registering a rise of 18 paise from the last close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.34 against the greenback.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 520.62 points or 0.87 per cent higher at 60,265.27, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 150.85 points or 0.85 per cent to 17,963.55.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, strengthened by 0.20 per cent to 95.91.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.21 per cent to USD 81.92 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday, as they bought shares worth Rs 496.27 crore, as per exchange data.