Rupee appreciates 11 paise to 73.34 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee strengthened 11 paise to 73.34 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday supported by weak American currency.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.43 against the US dollar, gained further ground and touched 73.34 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 11 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee strengthened by 21 paise to close 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".

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.16 per cent to 92.77.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 37.41 points lower at 38,808.41, and the broader NSE Nifty fell 18 points to 11,486.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 205.15 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.05 per cent to USD 43.17 per barrel.