Indian rupee gains 16 paise against the U.S. dollar

The rupee rose 16 paise to a provisional close of 96.72 per U.S. dollar on Friday. The move came as the greenback and crude prices eased and traders weighed the prospect of central-bank intervention.

On the interbank foreign-exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.74, strengthened to 96.51 and weakened to 96.77 during the session. It had closed at 96.88 on Thursday, down 13 paise.

Traders linked the currency’s move to a softer dollar and lower oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would not take military action against Iran before the November 3 midterm elections. The remarks also coincided with increased risk appetite in global markets.

The Sensex gained 879.09 points to close at 72,472.33, while the Nifty rose 288.65 points to 22,520.45. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers of equities worth 129.44 billion rupees on Thursday, exchange data showed.