The rupee opened higher against the US dollar on Friday, extending gains to a seventh session, on the back of weakness in crude oil. At 09:06 AM, the rupee was trading at 70.93 a dollar, up 20 paise from its Thursday’s close of 71.13. The home currency opened at 71.01 and touched a high and a low of 70.91 and 71.01 a dollar, respectively.
In the currency market, the dollar gained against the perceived safe-haven yen amid signs of easing trade worries between the US and China.
The dollar was a tad higher at 108.170 yen, hovering near a six-week high versus the Japanese currency.
China exempted a basket of US goods from its own tariffs while U.S. President Donald Trump said he would delay a scheduled tariff hike by two-weeks in October, reported Reuters.
In the commodity markets, oil futures fell on Friday as optimism over an end to the US-China trade war faded, leaving prices set for a weekly loss after days of wild gyrations.
Brent crude was down 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $60.21 a barrel by 0053 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was off by 14 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $54.95.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, pulling out Rs 188.08 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.26 percent at 6.68 percent from the previous close of 6.66 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.
