Rupee opens higher at 73.36 per dollar

Indian rupee opened higher at 73.36 per dollar on Wednesday against Tuesday's close of 73.42, amid volatile trade seen in the domestic equity market.

On December 29, rupee ended higher by 8 paise at 73.42 per dollar against previous close of 73.50.

At 10:02 IST, the Sensex was down 74.14 points or 0.16% at 47538.94, and the Nifty was down 19.30 points or 0.14% at 13913.30.

"Rupee to open around 73.35 and should trade in a range of 73.20 to 73.60 for the day. Asian currencies are generally up against the dollar and with RBI flopping a crucial support at 73.50 maybe we can see 72.80 as flows continue while demand for dollar is minimal," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head - Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.

"Importers are getting good levels to hedge but exporters unable to get better levels to sell as stock markets keep rising and bring in more flows. RBI yesterday ensured a non disruptive fixing for Dec-20 but had to allow 73.50 to be broken yesterday," he added.

The dollar fell to its lowest in more than two years against the euro on Wednesday as currency traders looked past a new delay in U.S. stimulus cheques and maintained bets additional financial aid was still likely.

Oil prices gained more ground on Wednesday as a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package and expectations of global economic recovery lifted hopes for higher fuel demand.

Investors are betting the greenback will continue to decline. It fell more than 6% this year on expectations the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates near zero and the US economy will struggle to recover from Coronavirus-related shutdowns, said ICICIdirect.