The rupee settled with gains of 3 paise at 74.90 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, tracking the positive domestic equities.

At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened weak at 74.96, then recovered lost ground and finally settled at 74.90 against the greenback.

During the day, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 74.85 and a low of 74.96 against the American currency.

The rupee had settled at 74.93 against the US dollar on Friday.

Forex traders said the rupee traded in a narrow range as positive domestic equities and foreign fund inflows supported the unit, while strong US dollar and rise in crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.17 per cent to 93.59.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 136.86 points higher at 38,177.43 and the broader NSE Nifty rose 54.60 points to 11,268.65.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 397.32 crore on Friday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.10 per cent to $44.89 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the number of cases around the world linked to Covid-19 has crossed 1.98 crore; and in India, the number of infections touched 22,15,074.

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