Rupee pares initial losses, settles 3 paise higher at 75 against US dollar

Rising for the eighth straight session, the rupee on Monday pared initial losses to settle 3 paise higher at 75 (provisional) against the US dollar amid a firm trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 75.15 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.95 and a low of 75.16.

It finally settled at 75, showing a gain of 3 paise against the previous close.

Trading is likely to remain range-bound this week ahead of the year-end holidays, forex traders said.

Moreover, a strong US dollar and firm crude oil prices restricted the rupee uptrend.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 295.93 points or 0.52 per cent higher at 57,420.24, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 82.50 points or 0.49 per cent to 17,086.25.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, rose 0.21 per cent to 96.21.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.01 per cent to USD 76.13 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Friday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 715 crore, as per exchange data.