Rupee jumps 34 paise to close at 74.66 against U.S. dollar

Continuing its gain for the ninth trading session in a row, the rupee surged 34 paise to close at 74.66 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, tracking positive domestic equities amid a rising appetite for high-risk assets.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.95 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.60 and a low of 74.95.

In the previous session, the rupee appreciated 3 paise to 75 against the U.S. dollar.

Positive moves in Indian equity indices and stronger Asian currencies aided sentiments, forex traders said, adding that trading is likely to remain range-bound this week ahead of the year-end holidays.

However, Omicron worries and firm crude oil prices restricted the appreciation bias of the local unit to some extent.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 477.24 points or 0.83% higher at 57,897.48, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 147 points or 0.86% to 17,233.25.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against the basket of six currencies, fell 0.08% to 96.02.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.57% to $79.05 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth ₹1,038.25 crore, as per stock exchange data.