Rupee trades higher at 74.01 per dollar

Indian rupee is trading higher at 74.01 per dollar, amid buying seen in the domestic equity market.

It opened higher at 73.94 per dollar against previous close of 74.20.

At 13:13 IST, the Sensex was up 494.16 points or 1.18% at 42387.22, and the Nifty was up 137.90 points or 1.12% at 12401.40.

The dollar hit a 10-week low on Monday as investors heralded Joe Biden’s election as U.S. president by buying trade-exposed currencies on expectations that a calmer White House could boost world commerce and that monetary policy will remain easy.

"Rupee traded weak on Friday on back of dollar index strength and covered short position seen in USDINR. As we go into weekend US Election outcome is still a overhang and the Open Interest (OI) data suggests position is being covered due to volatile swings dollar is witnessing. Range remain between 74-75," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

Oil prices gained more than 2% on Monday, with Brent futures rising above $40 a barrel, after Joe Biden clinched the US presidency and buoyed risk appetite, offsetting worries about impact on fuel demand from the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

The rupee traded positively and Call writers near 74.50 strike continued to dominate at higher levels. We feel the USD-INR pair should find resistance around these levels, said ICICIdirect.