The rupee appreciated 14 paise to close at ₹79.76 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday, tracking strong regional peers and soft greenback.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at ₹79.86 against the greenback and finally settled at ₹79.76 (provisional), registering a rise of 14 paise over its previous close.
During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of ₹79.70 and a low of ₹79.87 against the American currency.
In the previous session, the rupee had closed at ₹79.90 against the American currency.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.38% at 106.32.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.25% to $104.49 per barrel.
According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, the Indian rupee started the week on the front foot following stronger regional currencies and weaker crude oil prices.
"We have entered the Fed week with markets back to their expectation of a 75 bps move on Wednesday from 100 bps a few weeks back," Mr. Parmar said, adding that spot USD/INR is having support at ₹79.30 and resistance remains around ₹80.10.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 306.01 points or 0.55% lower at 55,766.22, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 88.45 points or 0.53% to 16,631.00.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they sold shares worth ₹675.45 crore, as per exchange data.
