Mumbai

Besides, fresh foreign fund inflows also supported the domestic unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 74.26 against the dollar and later edged lower to quote at 74.27, a rise of 17 paise against the last close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.44 against the US dollar.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 160.60 points or 0.29 per cent higher at 54,686.53, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 45.45 points or 0.28 per cent to 16,327.70.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.05 per cent at 92.87.

Foreign institutional investors emerged as net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they bought shares worth Rs 238.14 crore, as per exchange data.

Strengthening crude prices in the international market, however, kept the rupee surge in check.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.04 per cent to USD 71.47 per barrel.