Rupee gains 9 paise against dollar in opening trade

The rupee firmed 9 paise to 65.08 against the dollar in opening trade today after the greenback came under pressure as US President Donald Trump's comments raised concerns of a global trade war.

Trump on Friday said trade wars were good and easy to win. His plan to put tariffs on steel and aluminium imports triggered negative sentiments across overseas markets.

Forex dealers said weakness in the dollar against some other currencies overseas and foreign capital inflows in the domestic equity markets supported the rupee.

According to provisional exchange data, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 241.85 crore on net basis on Thursday.

On Thursday, the rupee failed to benefit from highly  bullish macroeconomic trends and ended virtually stable at 65.17 against the US dollar even as India regained title of world's fastest-growing major economy amid imminent Fed rate hike fears.

Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex fell 249.79 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 33,797.15 in early trade today.