Indian rupee starts week on a higher note against UAE dirham

The Indian rupee gained nine paise to 82.31 against the US dollar (22.427 against the UAE dirham) in early trade on March 27 amid a weak dollar and a positive trend in the Indian equities.

At the Indian interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 82.36 against the dollar, then climbed to 82.31, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close. On March 24, the rupee closed at 82.40 against the US currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.11 per cent to 103. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.04 per cent to $75.02 per barrel.

In the Indian equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 220.99 points or 0.38 per cent to 57,748.09 points. The broader NSE Nifty gained 76.10 points or 0.45 per cent to 17,021.15 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on March 24 as they offloaded shares worth Rs17.2 billion, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India's forex kitty rose $12.798 billion to $572.801 billion in the week ended March 17. In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped $2.39 billion to a three-month low of $560 billion.

• Indian rupee opens higher against UAE dirham on first trading day of the week