Mumbai: The Indian rupee inched 9 paise higher to 74.18 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday tracking positive domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 74.20 against the dollar, then inched higher to 74.18, registering a gain of 9 paise over its previous close.
On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 74.27 against the US dollar.
Asian currencies have started weak against the greenback this morning. Besides, firm crude oil prices could also weigh on sentiments, Reliance Securities said in a research note adding that “markets could be dollar and data dependant over the next couple of trading sessions.”
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.07 per cent to USD 75.24 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.03 per cent up at 91.83.
On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 179.02 points or 0.34 per cent higher at 52,485.10, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 46.50 points or 0.3 per cent to 15,733.45.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,156.53 crore, as per exchange data.