Rupee falls 4 paise to 83.15 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated 4 paise to 83.15 against the US dollar in the morning session on Monday, amid elevated crude oil prices and dollar demand from importers.

Forex traders said the rupee is trading in a narrow range as the support from positive domestic equities was negated by foreign fund outflows.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.14 against the dollar, then fell to 83.15, registering a decline of 4 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee rose 1 paisa in a range-bound trade to close at 83.11 against the US dollar.

Forex market was closed on Friday on account of Republic Day.

"The rupee looks to be in a range in today's trading session as the market awaits for the US Federal Reserve interest rate decision in the week," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher 0.47 per cent at USD 83.94 per barrel.

"Oil prices rose on Red Sea worries as US troops were killed by mercenaries in Jordan while Houthis attacked a fuel tanker in the Red Sea," Bhansali added.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent higher at 103.52.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 566.99 points or 0.80 per cent higher at 71,267.66 points. The broader NSE Nifty rose 175.15 points or 0.82 per cent to 21,527.75 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,144.06 crore, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex reserves jumped USD 1.634 billion to USD 618.937 billion for the week ended January 12, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday.