Mumbai, February 23 The rupee gained 5 paise to close at 90.89 against the US dollar on Monday, supported by a sharp fall in global crude oil prices and a weaker dollar, amid renewed global trade-related uncertainties.
However, fresh geopolitical concerns due to escalated tensions between the US and Iran, limited the gains for the local currency, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.76 and traded in a range of 90.67-90.90 against the dollar during the session. It eventually closed at 90.89, up 5 paise from its previous close.
The rupee plunged 26 paise to close at 90.94 against the US dollar on Friday.
"The rupee rose to 90.67 but could not sustain the gains as equity markets did not sustain the morning highs due to rising debt yields. Despite the positive ruling from the US Supreme Court, the rupee did not see significant gains, and the dollar was bought by importers and other buyers like FPIs," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
He expects the rupee to be in the range of 90.60 to 91.00.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six currencies, was trading lower by 0.32 per cent at 97.47.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was down 0.39 per cent at USD 71.49 per barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rose by 479.95 points to close at 83,294.66, while the Nifty advanced by 141.75 points to 25,713.
Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 3,483.70 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
India's forex reserves jumped USD 8.663 billion to reach a new all-time high of USD 725.727 billion in the week ended February 13, the RBI said on Friday.
