Rupee trades in narrow range in early session against US dollar

The Indian rupee was trading in a narrow range in morning trade on Thursday as muted domestic equities and weak domestic macroeconomic data weighed on investor sentiments.

Forex traders said elevated crude oil prices also affected the appreciating bias in the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 73.91 against the American dollar, then inched higher to 73.89, registering a rise of 4 paise from the last close. The local unit also touched 73.97 in early deals.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled almost flat at 73.93 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.06 per cent higher at 94.97.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 8.45 points or 0.01 per cent lower at 61,141.59, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 5.70 points or 0.03 per cent to 18,206.65.

On the domestic macroeconomic front, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) remained muted for the third straight month in November 2021, while retail inflation rose to a six-month high of 5.59 per cent in December.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.20 per cent to USD 84.50 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,001.57 crore, as per stock exchange data.