Rupee opens on a flat note against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee opened on a flat note and appreciated 1 paisa to 83.14 against the US dollar in the morning session on Wednesday, amid a muted trend in domestic equities.

Forex traders said the rupee is trading with a slight negative bias amid selling pressure from foreign investors.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.15 against the dollar, then rose to 83.14, registering a rise of 1 paisa over its previous close.

In the initial trade, the rupee touched an early low of 83.16 against the US dollar.

On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 83.15 against the US dollar.

"Rupee was weakened on Tuesday as FPIs withdrew Rs 3,115 crores from share markets after a 1.5 per cent fall in indices. Wednesday's opening may pave the way to a move beyond 83.20 although in-flows are still there to counter any major demand from FPIs," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.01 per cent to USD 79.54 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally lower by 0.14 per cent at 103.46.

"Dollar hovered near a six-week high of 103.53 as investors cemented expectations that the Fed Reserve would be in no hurry to cut rates in the face of a resilient US economy," Bhansali added.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 70.32 points or 0.10 per cent higher at 70,440.87 points. The broader NSE Nifty rose 29.85 points or 0.14 per cent to 21,268.65 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,115.39 crore, according to exchange data.

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