Rupee rises 10 paise against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee appreciated by 10 paise to 74.05 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, as intense buying in domestic equities amid positive COVID-19 vaccine news strengthened investor sentiment.

Besides, constant foreign fund inflow and weak American currency also supported the local unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic currency opened up at 74.04 against the US dollar, then edged slightly lower to 74.05 in early deals, a rise of 10 paise over its last close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled 7 paise lower at 74.15 against the US dollar.

After touching its lifetime peak of 42,959.25 in the opening session, BSE Sensex was trading 216.15 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 42,813.58.

The broader NSE Nifty too claimed a fresh high of 12,557.05. Later, it was trading with 51.65 points or 0.41 per cent gain at 12,512.70.

Meanwhile, pharma major Pfizer has announced that its vaccine, as per preliminary estimates, is 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19.

The analysis evaluated 94 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in trial participants, it said.
Positive news on the vaccine also helped investors eye risky assets.

“News of encouraging results (90 per cent of symptomatic infections) on coronavirus vaccine front from trials conducted by Pfizer fuelled a major rally in risk assets,” Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global, said.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.05 per cent to 92.66.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,548.39 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.90 per cent to USD 42.02 per barrel.