Indian rupee steady against UAE dirham, US dollar

The Indian rupee was trading in a narrow range in morning trade on Monday as elevated crude oil prices negated the impact of the positive Indian equities.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 74.18 against the American dollar, then inched higher to 74.16 (20.20 versus the UAE dirham), registering a fall of 1 paisa from the last close.

On Friday, the rupee had slumped 25 paise to close at 74.15 against the US dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading unchanged at 95.16.

The Indian rupee opened weaker versus the dollar tracking the strength of the greenback and strengthening bond yields, Reliance Securities said in a research note. Moreover, the strength of crude oil and a weak start in Asian and emerging market peers could also weigh on the local unit this Monday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.06 per cent to $86.11 per barrel.

On the India equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 40.37 points or 0.07 per cent higher at 61,263.40, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 22.05 points or 0.12 per cent to 18,277.80.

(with inputs from PTI)

• Dubai