Mumbai: The rupee opened on a cautious note and fell 13 paise to 71.84 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday amid rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign fund outflows. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened at 71.82 then fell to 71.84 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 13 paise over its previous closing. The Indian rupee on Monday had closed at 71.71 against the US dollar.

Forex market was closed on Tuesday on account of Muharram. Forex traders said rising brent crude prices and foreign fund inflows weighed on the domestic currency. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.87 per cent to USD 62.92 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 188.08 crore on Monday, as per provisional data.

Market participants however said positive opening in domestic equities added support to the local unit and restricted the downfall. Domestic bourses opened on a positive note on Wednesday with benchmark indices Sensex trading 133.04 points up at 37,278.49 and Nifty up 36.15 points at 11,039.20.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose marginally by 0.01 per cent to 98.33. The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.61 per cent in morning trade.

Meanwhile on the global front, US President Donald Trump has claimed that China had lost trillions of dollars and three-million jobs due the tariffs his administration had imposed against the country. Trump asserted that the United States was doing very well against China, adding that the Chinese wanted to negotiate a trade deal "very badly". The top two economies of the world have been locked in a bitter trade war since last year, imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on goods worth billions of dollars. For the past 10 months, both the countries are negotiating a trade deal, but without any success.

Stock Market

Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex jumped over 150 points in early session on Wednesday, led by gains in infra, banking and auto stocks. After touching a high of 37,145.45, the 30-share index was trading 89.72 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 37,235.17 at 0950 hours, while the broader Nifty rose 21.55 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 11,024.60.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE barometer ended 163.68 points, or 0.44 per cent, higher at 37,145.45; and the NSE Nifty settled 56.85 points, or 0.52 per cent, up at 11,003.05.

Stock exchanges were closed on Tuesday on account of Muharram. Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Yes Bank, Tata Motors, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, SBI and L&T, rallying up to 6 per cent. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, PowerGrid, ITC and Kotak Bank fell up to 1.13 per cent.

According to experts, market sentiment has improved due to positive global cues and hopes of further measures by the government to boost economy. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government has set up a task force to boost investments in infrastructure projects and is in the process of identifying the sectors which needed funding from the centre.

On Monday, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net of Rs 188.08 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 686.47 crore, provisional data showed. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea were trading in the green in their respective late morning sessions.

On Wall Street, bourses ended flat on Tuesday. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 4 paise against its previous close at 71.75 in early session. Global oil benchmark Brent crude surged 0.91 per cent to 62.95 per barrel.