Rupee rises 26 paise to 89.92 against dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated 26 paise to 89.92 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday, supported by a weaker greenback and lower crude prices. However, domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty were trading lower.

Mumbai: The rupee rose 26 paise to 89.92 against US dollar in early trade on Wednesday aided by a weaker greenback and a sharp drop in global crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.20 against the US dollar but kept rising to trade at 89.92, up 26 paise from its previous close.

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The rupee snapped its four-day losing streak to appreciate 12 paise to settle at 90.18 against the American currency on Tuesday.

“The rupee opened firmer even as (US President) Donald Trump continues to threaten India with more tariffs. Exporters are expected to continue selling at high of the day on cash/spot basis while importers will buy the dips and more if the fall is close to 90 for the dollar,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05 per cent lower at 98.52.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.05 per cent lower at USD 60.06 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 169.64 points to 84,909.30 in early trade, while Nifty was down 42.35 points to 26,128.90.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 107.63 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.