The rupee appreciated 4 paise to 75.69 against the US dollar in the opening trade on Wednesday, following a rally in domestic equities amid hopes of a breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine talks. A weak American currency in the international market also helped the local unit, forex traders said. However, surging global crude prices restricted the gains of the domestic currency, they added. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 75.65 against the US dollar but lost some ground to quote at 75.69, a rise of 4 paise over the last close. It was moving in a close range of 75.69 and 75.62 in the morning trade. In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 75.73 against the greenback.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures surged 1.02 per cent to USD 111.35 per barrel. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.24 per cent to 98.20. On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 471 points or 0.81 per cent higher at 58,414.94 while the broader NSE Nifty surged 125.65 points, or 0.73 per cent to 17,450.95. After Tuesday's talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials, Moscow announced that it will reduce military operations near Kyiv and Chernihiv. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Tuesday as they bought shares worth Rs 35.47 crore, according to stock exchange data.
PTI INPUTS
