The Indian rupee edged up by 9 paise to close at 87.93 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, supported by foreign fund inflows and softer crude oil prices. Positive domestic equity market sentiment also lent further support, according to forex traders.At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.94 and traded in a range of 87.74-87.94 during the day before settling at 87.93, higher than Friday’s close of 88.02.“The Reserve Bank of India ensured that the rupee opened below 88… There was no specific development on the India-US trade front, while on the US-China front, the talks by government officials gave hope that US-China trade developments could be solved amicably,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, executive director at Finrex, as quoted by news agency PTI.The rupee had gained 14 paise to a month’s high of 87.88 in early trade, buoyed by capital inflows and sharp gains in domestic equities, as per NSE data (background PTI). The local unit was supported by sustained buying from Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) and marginal Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) activity.Brent crude futures fell 0.36 per cent to $61.07 per barrel, while the dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of currencies, inched up 0.1 per cent to 98.53.On the domestic equity front, the BSE Sensex rose 411.18 points to 84,363.37 and the NSE Nifty climbed 133.30 points to 25,843.15, reflecting positive investor sentiment during the festive season. FIIs purchased equities worth Rs 308.98 crore on Friday.Stock exchanges will hold a special Muhurat trading session on Tuesday from 1:45 pm to 2:45 pm for Laxmi Pujan, while the forex markets will remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bhansali added, “After two days’ holidays from Tuesday, the rupee is expected to be in the range of 87.70-88.30 on Thursday”.India’s forex reserves dropped by $2.176 billion to $697.784 billion during the week ended October 10, according to RBI data released on Friday.
