The Indian rupee strengthened by 9 paise to 72.36 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, tracking the broad weakness of the greenback and positive domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 72.38 against the dollar, then inched higher to 72.36, registering a gain of 9 paise over its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee had settled at 72.45 against the US dollar.

The Indian Rupee started on a flat to stronger note this Monday against the dollar, tracking the overall weakness of the dollar. FPI flows, absence of the RBI could lend support to the currency, Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Most Asian currencies have started mostly flat to marginally weaker against the US Dollar this Monday morning and could cap further appreciation, the note added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.03 per cent to 90.00.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.57 per cent to USD 69.11 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 186.80 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 51,609.68, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 53.40 points or 0.35 per cent to 15,489.05.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday as they purchased shares worth Rs 913.59 crore, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, India reported the lowest daily new coronavirus infections in 50 days with 1,52,734 cases, taking the tally to 2,80,47,534 on Monday, while the active caseload declined to 20,26,092, the Health Ministry said.