Rupee Strengthens Against Dollar in Early Trade

The Indian rupee has gained strength against the US dollar in early trade on Monday. The local currency rose by 24 paise to 95.72 against the greenback, supported by a slight moderation in crude oil prices and a positive trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders attribute the initial gains in domestic equities and improved foreign fund sentiment as contributing factors to the rupee's strength. However, sustained importer demand for greenbacks from oil companies and broader strength in the US dollar Index have weighed on the local unit.

The rupee opened at 95.86 against the US dollar but quickly gained ground to touch 95.72, registering a gain of 24 paise from its previous close. The dollar index was trading at 100.31, higher by 0.09%, while Brent crude prices were lower by 2.10% at $101.69 per barrel in futures trade.

Experts predict that the rupee may remain within a broad range of 95.60-96.50, with the 96.40-96.50 zone acting as stiff resistance. Anindya Banerjee, Head of Commodity and Currency Research at Kotak Securities, stated, 'The rupee closed at 95.89 on Friday after being defended near 96 last week.'

On the domestic equities market front, Sensex jumped 448.32 points to 74,743.28 in early trade, while Nifty was up 50.3 points to 23,396.70. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹599.54 crore on a net basis on Friday.

India's forex reserves dropped by $4.924 billion to $780.782 billion during the week ended September 11 due to a fall in foreign currency and gold reserves, according to RBI data released on Friday.