Rupee falls 20 paise to 74.46 against US dollar in early trade

The Indian rupee depreciated 20 paise to 74.46 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, tracking the firm American currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 74.40 against the dollar, then fell further to 74.46, registering a fall of 20 paise over its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee had settled at 74.26 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.04 per cent at 92.98.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.43 per cent to USD 69.34 per barrel.

Forex traders said foreign fund inflows and positive domestic equities will limit the depreciation bias of the local unit.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 197.45 points or 0.36 per cent higher at 54,600.30, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 46.15 points or 0.28 per cent to 16,304.40.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Monday as they purchased shares worth Rs 211.91 crore, as per exchange data.