Mumbai, February 23 The rupee gained 7 paise to settle at 90.87 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, supported by a sharp fall in global crude oil prices and a weaker US dollar amid renewed global trade-related uncertainties.
However, foreign fund outflows, coupled with geopolitical concerns, limited the gains for the local currency, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.76 and traded in the range of 90.67-90.89 against the greenback during the session. It eventually settled at 90.87 (provisional), up 7 paise from its previous close.
The rupee plunged 26 paise to settle at 90.94 against the US dollar on Friday.
"The rupee rose to 90.67 but was unable to sustain gains as stock prices did not maintain the morning highs due to rising debt yields. Despite the favorable verdict from the US Supreme Court, the rupee did not see any significant gains, and the dollar was bought by importers and other buyers like FPIs whenever it dipped," 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 US 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 offloaded equities worth Rs 934.61 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
India's forex reserves jumped by USD 8.663 billion to hit a new all-time high of USD 725.727 billion in the week ended February 13, the RBI said on Friday.
