Rupee gains 31 paise to close at 74.03 against US dollar amid robust buying

The rupee surged 31 paise to close at 74.03 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday amid robust buying in domestic equities.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened strong at 74.15 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.03 and a low of 74.21. It finally settled at 74.03, a rise of 31 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.34 against the US dollar.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 650.98 points or 1.09 per cent higher at 60,395.63, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 190.60 points or 1.07 per cent to 18,003.30.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, rose 0.19 per cent to 95.90.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.51 per cent higher at USD 82.17 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Friday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 496.27 crore, as per stock exchange data.