Rupee rises 16 paise to 95.73 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee strengthened by 16 paise to 95.73 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, according to the wire service. This rise was attributed to a buying trend in domestic equity markets and a decline in overseas crude oil prices. Forex experts noted that the decrease in crude prices below the $104-per-barrel mark helped reduce pressure on the Indian currency, despite US bond yields falling after the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 25 basis points.

The rupee opened at 95.75 at the interbank foreign exchange market and slightly increased to 95.73 against the US dollar in early trades. On Thursday, the local unit had closed at 95.89, up 2 paise from its previous close. Prior to that, the rupee had dropped 150 paise, or nearly 1.5 percent, over the previous eight sessions, following a closing level of 94.43 against the US dollar on September 4.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.02 percent to 99.97. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.93 percent to $103.85 per barrel in futures trade. Domestic equities also contributed to the rupee's gains, with the Sensex up 122.18 points or 0.16 percent to 74,436.77, and the Nifty increasing by 23.55 points or 0.10 percent to 23,294.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹3,208.76 crore on a net basis on Thursday, as per exchange data.