Rupee surges 18 paise to close at 74.70 against US dollar

The rupee surged 18 paise to close at 74.70 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday tracking the weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 74.71 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.68 and a low of 74.77. It finally settled at 74.70, a rise of 18 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.88 against the greenback.

During the week, the rupee has appreciated 37 paise against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, fell 0.09 per cent to 95.29.

However, the surge in the rupee was restricted amid elevated crude oil prices and muted domestic equities, traders said.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 143.20 points or 0.24 per cent lower at 58,644.82, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 43.90 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,516.30.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 1.44 per cent higher at USD 92.42 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,597.54 crore, as per stock exchange data.