The Indian rupee was trading in a narrow range in morning trade on January 21 as muted domestic equities and sustained foreign fund outflows negated the impact of easing crude oil prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 74.50 against the American dollar, then inched higher to 74.48. The local unit also touched an early low of 74.53 against U.S. dollar in the opening session.
On January 20, the rupee had slipped 7 paise to close at 74.51 against the U.S. dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04% lower at 95.69.
Easing crude oil prices will cap weakness, however, weak Asian and emerging market peers will cap strength of the domestic unit, Reliance Securities said in a research note.
The weekly futures and options will expire today, so the markets could remain choppy ahead of the expiry, it added.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 516.36 points or 0.87% lower at 58,948.26, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 151.45 points or 0.85% to 17,605.55.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 1.84% to USD 86.75 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on January 20, as they offloaded shares worth ₹4,679.84 crore, as per stock exchange data.