Rupee trades lower at 74.28 per dollar

Indian rupee is trading lower at 74.28 per dollar, amid volatile trade seen in the domestic equity market.

It opened 10 paise lower at 74.29 per dollar against previous close of 74.19.

At 11:09 IST, the Sensex was down 74.11 points or 0.17% at 44105.94, and the Nifty was down 11.20 points or 0.09% at 12927.10.

"Rupee saw some jig saw moves between 74.60-74.10 as RBI is likely intervening near 74.10 and exporter selling pressure kept the prices check every-time near 74.55. The strong inflow into capital markets keep rupee depreciation limited but RBI buying supports the prices. Broad range remains between 74.00-74.75," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

US crude futures fell in early trade on Thursday, giving up some of gains from the previous day as surging COVID-19 cases and widening lockdowns raised fears over fuel demand, offsetting further upbeat vaccine news.

The USD-INR pair is expected to find support near 74 levels once again as the range bound movement is likely to continue. Significant Put base is also likely to provide support near these levels, said ICICIdirect.

The dollar-rupee November contract on the NSE was at 74.23 in the last session. The open interest increased by 4.9% for the November series contract, it added.

"USD INR to open a tad weaker around 74.25, as there is a bit of risk aversion overall in Asia but it may not matter much. RBI ultimately leave the buying in the pair around 74.40 and dollar fell by 30 paise," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.