The rupee strengthened for the third straight session on Tuesday, closing 9 paise higher at 74.49 (provisional) against the US dollar on the back of gains in the domestic equities.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.49 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.41 and a low of 74.50 during the session. It finally ended at 74.49 against the American currency. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 74.58 against the US dollar.
In the last three trading sessions, the rupee has appreciated by 22 paise. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.11 per cent to 92.36. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 397.04 points or 0.76 per cent higher at 52,769.73, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 119.75 points or 0.76 per cent to 15,812.35.
Forex traders said foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices could weigh on investor sentiment and cap the appreciation of the local unit. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 745.97 crore, as per exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 0.55 per cent to USD 75.57 per barrel.
On the domestic macro-economic front, retail inflation remained above the RBI's comfort level for the second consecutive month despite slipping slightly to 6.26 per cent in June while the factory output recorded a growth of 29.3 per cent in May, mainly on account of the base effect.