The Indian rupee opened flat and then edged higher against the US dollar on Wednesday, as lacklustre domestic markets and elevated crude oil prices weighed on the local unit.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 77.99 against the dollar -- an increase of five paise over previous close. The rupee-dollar exchange rate stood at an alltime low of 78.04 on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.28% to 105.21. Brent crude futures rose 0.19% to $121.40 per barrel.
The rupee opened on a flat note against the dollar ahead of US Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates, Sriram Iyer, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities, said. Asian and emerging market peers are mixed, while equity futures have started with small gains and could cap the downside for the USD/INR spot pair, Iyer noted.
In Mumbai, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 47.1 points or 0.09% lower at 52,646.47, while the broader NSE Nifty 50 declined 13.95 points or 0.09% to 15,718.15.
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