Rupee opens flat against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee opened on a flat note against the US dollar on Monday tracking weakness in Asian peers even as domestic equities started on a positive note.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened weak at 74.96, down 3 paise over its previous close of 74.93.

The domestic unit, however, soon pared the losses and was trading 2 paise higher at 74.91 against the greenback.

Forex traders said, while firm start of the equity market and foreign fund inflows supported the rupee, factors like weak Asian currencies and rising COVID-19 cases dragged down the local unit.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies,



fell 0.11 per cent to 93.32.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 315.34 points higher at 38,355.91 and broader NSE Nifty rose 98.90 points to 11,312.95.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 397.32 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.97 per cent to USD 44.83 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to COVID-19 has crossed 1.98 crore; and in India, the number of infections touched 22,15,074.