Indian rupee gains against UAE dirham in early trade

The Indian rupee appreciated seven paise to 79.74 against the US dollar (21.72 versus the UAE dirham) in early trade on Thursday as a positive trend in equities supported the rupee.

However, a strong American currency overseas and forex outflows restricted the rupee's gain, dealers said.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.72 against the American dollar, then went lower to trade at 79.74 against the greenback in early deals, registering a gain of seven paise over the last close.

In the previous session, the rupee had closed at an all-time low of 79.81 against the greenback. The local unit was moving in a tight range of 79.71 to 79.74 in early trade.

On the Indian equity front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 134.45 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 53,648.60, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 40.15 points or 0.25 per cent to 16,006.80.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.30 per cent to 108.30.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.57 per cent to $100.14 per barrel.

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Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, offloading shares worth Rs28.39 billion, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the US consumer price index rose to a multi-year high of 9.1 per cent in June, fuelling speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates aggressively to tame soaring prices.

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