Rupee rises 13 paise to 95.63 against U.S. dollar in early trade

The rupee strengthened 13 paise to 95.63 against the U.S. dollar in early trade Thursday, supported by gains in domestic equity markets and foreign capital inflows.

The currency's gains were capped by a stronger dollar index after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.59 and later eased to 95.63 against the dollar, up 13 paise from its previous close.

The rupee gained 6 paise to settle at 95.76 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday. It had risen 17 paise to close at 95.82 on Tuesday, following gains in the previous two sessions.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.06% at 101.79.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 1.26% lower at USD 89.60 a barrel.

Analysts said crude prices had recently climbed above USD 90 a barrel amid renewed concerns about disruptions to global energy supplies following fresh clashes between the U.S. and Iran after three days of relative calm.

The U.S. military said Thursday it had struck "dozens" of targets belonging to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in what it described as "a heavy wave of strikes against Iran," in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan.

In domestic equity markets, the Sensex rose 44.77 points, or 0.06%, to 77,699.37, while the Nifty gained 21.65 points, or 0.09%, to 24,270.20.

Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth ₹2,981.87 crore on a net basis Wednesday, according to exchange data.