Mumbai, February 17 The rupee rose by 1 paisa to 90.73 against the US dollar in the early trade on Tuesday, supported by a decline in global crude oil prices.
However, a stronger dollar and outflows from foreign investors capped gains in the local currency, according to forex traders.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.72 against the US dollar before slipping to 90.73, up 1 paisa from its previous close.
The rupee closed 8 paise lower at 90.74 against the US dollar on Monday.
"The rupee was well offered on Monday, although it closed lower. Suspected RBI intervention has prevented the currency from crossing 91 so far and has also deterred speculative short positions," said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the dollar against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.23 per cent at 97.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading down 0.47 per cent at USD 68.33 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex declined by 245.87 points to 83,031.28 in the early trade, while the Nifty was down 106.45 points at 25,576.30.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 972.13 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
Government data released on Monday showed that wholesale price inflation continued to rise for the third consecutive month, at 1.81 per cent in January, driven by an increase in prices of food, non-food articles, and manufactured items on a month-on-month basis.
Furthermore, the country's exports rose marginally by 0.61 per cent to USD 36.56 billion in January, while the trade deficit widened to a three-month high of USD 34.68 billion, as per official data released on Monday.
