Rupee surges 11 paise to 74.91 against US dollar in early trade

At the interbank forex market, the domestic unit opened at 74.96 against the US dollar, gained further ground and touched 74.91 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 11 paise over its previous close.

It had settled at 75.02 against the US dollar on Thursday.

Forex traders said positive trend in the equity markets and weak American currency supported the rupee.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.15 per cent to 92.65.

"The post UD Fed meeting minutes USD strength has fizzled out. The dollar has weakened overnight," IFA Global Founder and CEO Abhishek Goenka said adding that "the dollar has weakened after the weekly Jobless claims came in higher than expected at 1.1 million (expected 900K)".

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 269.34 points higher at 38,489.73, and the broader NSE Nifty advanced 80.95 points to 11,393.15.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 268.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.33 per cent to USD 45.05 per barrel.