Rupee ends lower at 73.29 per dollar

Indian rupee has ended 15 paise lower at 73.29 per dollar, amid buying seen in the domestic equity market.

It opened marginally lower at 73.17 per dollar against Thursday close of 73.14 and remained in the range of 73-73.41.

At 14:17 IST, the Sensex was up 339.99 points or 0.88% at 39037.04, and the Nifty was up 97.80 points or 0.86% at 11514.80.

The dollar held tight ranges against its peers on Monday as investors awaited clarity on the health of U.S. President Donald Trump after he tested positive for the coronavirus, sending markets into safe-haven assets.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Monday, lifted by comments from doctors for U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting he could be discharged from hospital as soon as Monday, just a few days after his positive test for COVID-19 sparked widespread alarm.

"We are expecting the rupee to trade with a slight appreciation bias in the near-term, given the persistent dollar inflows in the domestic market and a healthy current account surplus. However, 73.20 remains a strong hurdle for the rupee, and the RBI may not be very comfortable allowing it to appreciate above those levels," said Sugandha Sachdeva VP-Metals, Energy & Currency Research, Religare Broking.

"The market will be watching developments around the next round of US fiscal stimulus packages, without which the upbeat risk appetite may not be able to sustain for very long. We expect a near-term range of 73.20 to 74.50 on the rupee," she added.