The Indian rupee strengthened by 9 paise to 72.36 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on May 31, tracking the broad weakness of the greenback and positive domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 72.38 against the dollar, then inched higher to 72.36, registering a gain of 9 paise over its previous close.
On May 28, the rupee had settled at 72.45 against the U.S. dollar.
The Indian rupee started on a flat to stronger note on May 31 against the dollar, tracking the overall weakness of the dollar. FPI flows, absence of the RBI could lend support to the currency, Reliance Securities said in a research note.
Most Asian currencies have started mostly flat to marginally weaker against the U.S. Dollar on May 31 morning and could cap further appreciation, the note added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.03% to 90.00.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.57% to $69.11 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 186.80 points or 0.36% higher at 51,609.68, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 53.40 points or 0.35% to 15,489.05.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on May 28 as they purchased shares worth ₹913.59 crore, as per exchange data.
