Mumbai: The rupee strengthened by 8 paise to 88.62 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, supported by a weaker American currency and lower global crude oil prices.
Forex traders said positive cues from domestic equity markets also aided the local unit, though foreign investor selling limited sharper gains.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.51 and touched a high of 88.49 before settling at 88.62 against the greenback in early deals, up 8 paise from its previous close.
On Tuesday, the domestic currency had gained 7 paise to end at 88.70 against the dollar. The forex market remained closed on Wednesday for the Prakash Gurpurab holiday.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against six major currencies, slipped 0.16 per cent to 99.90.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, edged up 0.17 per cent to USD 63.63 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity markets, the Sensex rose 321.81 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 83,780.96, while the Nifty advanced 57.05 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 25,654.70 in early trade.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹1,067.01 crore on Tuesday.
