Rupee gains 12 paise to 90.66 against US dollar in early trade

The rupee recovered from a low level and traded with a gain of 12 paise at 90.66 against the US dollar in early deals on Monday, tracking a retreating greenback against major overseas rivals.

However, persistent outflow of foreign funds from domestic equity markets and higher crude oil prices overseas amid a volatile geopolitical situation kept investors cautious, forex analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.68 and gained further to trade at 90.66 against the greenback, registering a gain of 12 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee crashed 44 paise to settle near its lowest level at 90.78 against the US dollar on Friday, after losing 17 paise in the preceding two sessions.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.21% lower at 98.99.

Analysts said that the domestic currency found support amid a sell-off in dollar after US President Donald Trump announced imposing tariffs on European countries if they resist his plan to buy Greenland.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.17 % higher at $64.24 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex declined 482.80 points or 0.58% to 83,087.55, while the Nifty fell 129.30 points or 0.50% to 25,565.05.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹,346.13 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.