Rupee rises 3 paise to 73.08 against the US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated 3 paise to 73.08 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday, tracking positive domestic equities and weak American currency.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.10 against the US dollar and inched higher to 73.08 against the greenback, registering a rise of just 3 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 73.11 against the American currency.

"Most Asian currencies were weak against the greenback this morning and could weigh on sentiments," Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.14 per cent to 89.40.

"Both Democrat candidates have won in the Georgia Senate runoffs. The Democrats now effectively have control of the Senate as well. The President, Senate, House are all Democrat which makes legislation easy to pass," said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, IFA Global.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 160.16 points higher at 48,334.22, and the broader NSE Nifty was up 52.60 points at 14,198.85.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 483.64 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.77 per cent to USD 54.72 per barrel.