Rupee rises 27 paise to 86.52 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) The rupee sustained its recovery from lowest level for the second straight session and appreciated 27 paise to 86.52 against the US dollar on Wednesday supported by easing crude oil prices and measures by the Reserve Bank.

However, rupee's gain was capped by the volatile domestic equity markets, outflow of foreign funds and strengthening American currency amid concerns over the worldwide tariff war, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.44, touched a high of 86.36 and then traded at 86.52 against the greenback during early deals, 27 paise higher from its previous close.

On Tuesday, the rupee appreciated 66 paise, logging the maximum single-day gain since March 3, 2023, to close at 86.79 against the US dollar.

The steep surge came a day after the unit plunged to near 88 per US dollar level during intraday on Monday, though the currency staged a dramatic rebound in the second half to end the session with gains at 87.45 against the greenback.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent higher at 107.91.

The elevated level of dollar index was attributed to escalating trade tensions after the US imposed a 25 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel imports into the country.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped 0.31 per cent to USD 76.36 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 259.89 points, or 0.34 per cent, lower at 76,033.71 points, while the Nifty was down 72.40 points, or 0.31 per cent, at 22,999.40 points.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,486.41 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Tuesday, according to exchange data. PTI HVA DR

Source: PTI