The rupee on Monday appreciated marginally by three paise to 75.55 (provisional) against the US dollar amid sustained foreign fund inflows and positive domestic equity market.
Forex traders said a weak dollar overseas also helped the rupee, but rising crude oil prices weighed on the domestic unit.
The rupee opened at 75.59 against the US dollar and finally settled at 75.55, registering a rise of 3 paise over its previous close.
It had settled at 75.58 against the greenback on Friday.
During the four-hour session, the rupee saw an intra-day high of 75.50 and a low of 75.64.
On the equities front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was quoting 17.60 points higher at 34,304.84 and broader Nifty was up 20.45 points at 10,162.60.
According to provisional exchange data, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought shares worth Rs 97.61 crore on Friday.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.97 percent to USD 42.71 per barrel.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 percent to 96.85.
The weakness in the dollar index and stronger global equities supported the emerging market currencies. In the first week of June, traders said that foreign institutions bought equities worth USD 2.6 billion.
“Indian rupee gained on expectation of foreign fund inflows and in line with stronger Asian currencies,” Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said, adding the near-term focus will remain on US FOMC meeting on Wednesday.
Vakil further noted that the rupee is expected to consolidate in the range of 75 to 76 in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 70.31 lakh and the death toll has topped 4.03 lakh.
In India, the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 7,135 and the number of infections rose to 2,56,611, according to the health ministry.
The Financial Benchmark India Private Ltd (FBIL) set the reference rate for the rupee/dollar at 75.4665 and for rupee/euro at 85.8416. The reference rate for rupee/British pound was fixed at 95.4717 and for rupee/100 Japanese yen at 69.03.
