Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early session

The rupee was trading in a narrow range in morning trade on Thursday as elevated crude oil prices negated the impact of positive domestic equities.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 76.37 against the American dollar, then inched higher to 76.35. The local unit also touched 76.41 in initial deals.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 76.39 against the US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.22 percent to USD 121.33 per barrel.

The rupee is likely to remain under pressure tracking the strength of the greenback and oil, said Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

''Moreover, US Fed speakers continued to remain hawkish and pushed yields higher that could weigh on sentiments, but markets are slowly digesting the hawkish stance,'' he added.

Asian and emerging market peers were weaker this Wednesday morning and could weigh on sentiments, Iyer noted.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.17 percent to 98.78.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 22.03 points or 0.04 percent higher at 57,706.85, while the broader NSE Nifty inched higher by 6.75 points, or 0.04 percent, to 17,252.40.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they purchased shares worth Rs 481.33 crore, according to stock exchange data.