Indian rupee gains 4 paise to 77.62 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on Monday, supported by a weak American currency in the overseas markets. However, muted domestic equities, uplifted crude oil prices and persistent foreign fund outflows controlled the rupee’s rise, foreign exchange traders said.
At the inter-bank foreign exchange, the rupee opened slightly positive at 77.65 against the American dollar and gained further momentum to priced 77.62, registering a rise of 4 paise from the last close. In the last session, the rupee had closed at 77.66 against the U.S. dollar.
With rising inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to increase the repo rate during its monetary policy review meeting this week. The Reserve Bank may go for at least 35 basis points (bps) hike over and above the 40 bps hike effected last month after an off-cycle Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent lower at 102.10. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures raised 0.79 per cent to USD 120.66 per barrel.
