Rupee rises 3 paise to 72.93 against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee inched up 3 paise to 72.93 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday amid a firm trend in the domestic equity market and RBI's decision to leave key interest rate unchanged.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to leave benchmark interest rate unchanged at 4 per cent but maintained an accommodative stance, implying rate cuts in the future.

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 72.98 against the US dollar and inched higher to 72.93 against the greenback, registering a rise of just 3 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.96 against the American currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.07 per cent to 91.59.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 343.97 points higher at 50,958.26, and the broader NSE Nifty climbed 65.60 points to 14,961.25.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,936.74 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.71 per cent to USD 59.26 per barrel.