Rupee surges 19 paise to 76.31 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee appreciated 19 paise to 76.31 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, tracking positive trends among Asian and emerging market currencies.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 76.41 against the American dollar, then gained further ground to quote at 76.31, registering a rise of 19 paise from the last close.

On Tuesday, the rupee depreciated by 21 paise to close at 76.50 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.32 per cent lower at 100.64.

"Expectations of quicker rate hike continued to push the dollar and the bond yields higher and will continue to weigh on sentiments," Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

Most emerging market and Asian peers were stronger against the US dollar this Wednesday morning and could boost investor sentiments.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 395.78 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 56,858.93 points while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 125.70 points or 0.70 per cent to 17,084.35 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.03 per cent to USD 108.35 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,871.69 crore, as per stock exchange data.