Rupee surges 19 paise to 73.12 against the US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated by 19 paise to 73.12 against the US dollar in opening trade on Thursday supported by sustained foreign fund inflows and weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 73.15 against the US dollar and inched higher to 73.12 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee appreciated by 11 paise to close at more than two-month high of 73.31 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 89.64.

"Asian currencies are stronger against the USD. The Yuan is the strongest since mid-2018. China Manufacturing PMI came in line with estimates. The Dollar index continues to slide lower and is at the lowest level since April 2018," said Abhishek Goenka Founder and CEO IFA Global.

Meanwhile, India's current account surplus moderated to USD 15.5 billion or 2.4 per cent of the GDP in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal, the RBI said on Wednesday. The current account surplus in April-June quarter was, USD 19.2 billion.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 25.86 points higher at 47,772.08, and the broader NSE Nifty was up 2.55 points at 13,984.50.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,824.52 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.49 per cent to USD 51.34 per barrel.