Rupee rises 33 paise to 73.84 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Mar 11 (PTI) The Indian rupee recovered 33 paise to 73.84 against US dollar in early trade on Wednesday amid positive opening in domestic equities and weakening of the American dollar in the overseas market.

The Indian rupee on March 9, had fell to a 17-month low of 74.17 against the US dollar amid mounting fears of a coronavirus-led economic slowdown.

The forex market was closed on Tuesday on account of Holi.

At the interbank foreign exchange the rupee opened at 73.88, then gained further ground and touched a high of 73.84 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 33 paise over its previous close.

The domestic currency, however, could not hold on to the gains and was trading at 73.96 against the American unit at 1004 hrs.

On Monday, rupee had settled at 74.17 against the greenback.

Meanwhile, investor sentiment remained fragile amid concerns over the impact of coronavirus outbreak on the global economy, forex traders said.

The global death toll from the new coronavirus crossed 4,000 as the outbreak has spread to over 100 countries with more than 110,000 cases of infection.

Domestic bourses opened on a positive note on Wednesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 66.97 points higher at 35,701.92 and Nifty up by 3.85 points at 10,455.30.

Traders said the rise in crude oil prices helped in the recovery of equity market and trading sentiment as oil prices had crashed on Monday.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 3.36 per cent to USD 38.47 per barrel. Despite the rise, Brent crude prices are trading on a muted note, traders said.

Meanwhile, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold equity shares worth Rs 6,595.56 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against the basket of six currencies was trading 0.28 per cent lower at 96.14.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.13 per cent in morning trade.