Rupee rises by 10 paise against US dollar tracking early gains in equities

The rupee strengthened against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday due to a weak greenback in the overseas markets and early gains in domestic equity markets.

Firm crude oil prices and forex outflows from capital markets, however, restricted the rupee's gains, according to forex dealers.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened higher at 82.78 to a dollar against the previous close of 82.84.

The domestic unit appreciated further to hit a high of 82.73 before trading at 82.74 at 0930 hrs, showing gains of 10 paise over the previous close.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.28 per cent to 103.87.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.45 per cent to USD 82.57 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 397.14 points to 61,464.38 while NSE Nifty advanced 119.65 points to 18,318.75.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they sold shares worth Rs 1,119.11 crore, according to exchange data.