Rupee opens on flat note, inches 4 paise higher to 74.39 against US dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The Indian rupee opened on a flat note and inched 4 paise higher to 74.39 against the US dollar in opening trade on Wednesday, amid a negative trend in domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.43 against the dollar, then inched 4 paise higher to 74.39.

On Tuesday, the rupee had settled at 74.43 against the US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.25 per cent to USD 70.45 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.03 per cent at 93.08.

Forex traders said foreign fund outflows and a negative trend in domestic equities is likely to weigh on the local unit.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 218.9 points or 0.40 per cent lower at 54,335.76, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 68.25 points or 0.42 per cent to 16,211.85.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 178.51 crore, as per exchange data.

"The current crop of IPOs is not showing interest from FPIs so flows are limited. Exporters will wait for 74.50 to sell, while importers to buy near 74.30 and below. Tapering issue is going to continue as we await for the US CPI data this evening," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors.