Rupee opens on flat note, rises 3 paise to 73.15 against US dollar in early trade 

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee opened on a flat note and inched higher by 3 paise to 73.15 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid a muted trend in the domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 73.16 against the dollar, then inched higher to 73.15, registering a gain of 3 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 73.18 against the US dollar.

Choppy local equities, weak Asian currencies and a stronger dollar will weigh on the local unit. At the same time, anticipated dollar inflows and improving India pandemic situation could cap depreciation bias, Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback''s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.07 per cent to 90.13.

"The US dollar index was marginally weaker this Thursday morning in Asian trade. However, downside remained limited after minutes from the Federal Reserve''s latest policy meeting revealed there was more talk of tapering their bond purchase than investors had thought," the Reliance Securities'' note said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.24 per cent to USD 66.82 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 52.66 points or 0.11 per cent higher at 49,955.30, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 10.30 points or 0.07 per cent to 15,019.85.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 697.75 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, with 2,76,110 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India''s total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,57,72,440, while the daily deaths were recorded below 4,000 after four days, taking the toll to 2,87,122, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.