Indian rupee opens higher 17 paise at 63.52 per dollar

The Indian rupee gained in the early trade on Thursday. It has opened higher by 17 paise at 63.52 per dollar versus previous close 63.69.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, "The US dollar continues to weaken further with dollar index at 3-year lows. The key trigger for weakness is a statement from the US Treasury secretary that a weaker dollar helps US exports."

"Oil prices above USD 70/bbl is a concern but has not impacted Indian equity markets and rupee so far. We expect the USD-INR to trade in a range of 63.40-63.70 for the day."
"Indian bonds trade on a weaker note due to rising crude oil prices and higher US Treasury yields. Further trigger will come from the Union Budget next week.""We expect the 10-year benchmark bond yield to trade in a range of 7.27-7.31 percent for the day," he added.

The US dollar tanks the most in 10 months after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says weak dollar is good for American trade. The dollar index, which reflects the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 1 percent to the lowest level since December, 2014.