Indian rupee, the currency benchmark, strengthened 11 paise to 73.34 per US dollar on Monday, supported by weak American currency and foreign fund inflows. This was despite a volatile trading session in equity market on a global scale.
The domestic unit opened at 73.43 per dollar t the interbank forex market, and gained further ground to touch 73.34 per US dollar, rising 11 paise over its previous close.
On Friday, the rupee strengthened by 21 paise to settle at more than one-week high of 73.45 against the US dollar.
"Overall, we are likely to see another week where the price action in USD-INR could remain confined in a range of 73.10-73.90," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.
Goenka further said that "we may, however, see violent swings intra-day. A trending move is unlikely ahead of the first US presidential debate on September 29, the release of GOI borrowing calendar for H2 on September 30 and RBI monetary policy on October 1".
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.16 per cent to 92.77. Traders said investors awaited developments on US fiscal stimulus by the Federal Reserve policymakers in the US, due this week.
On the domestic equity market front, market indices opened on a flat note on Monday, extending last week's bearish trend, amid mixed global equities. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 82 points lower to 38,762 and Nifty fell 33 points lower at 11,471.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 205.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 100.83 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 September, provisional data showed.
Brent Crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.05 per cent to USD 43.17 per barrel. Oil price remained mixed on news that a blockade on the oil exports would be lifted for a month but falling US equity markets weighed.
Worldwide, there were 312 lakh confirmed cases and 9.65 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, India's death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 0.87 lakh and total coronavirus cases to 54.87 lakh as of Monday.
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