Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 23 paise to 82.12 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday amid a positive trend in domestic equities and easing crude prices. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.14 against the dollar, then gained further ground to touch 82.12, registering a rise of 23 paise over its previous close. On Friday, the rupee appreciated by 53 paise to close at 82.35 against the US dollar.
According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee started the trade with a gap-up trade tracking the overnight weakness of the dollar. However, most of the Asian and emerging market peers weakened against the greenback this Monday morning after Chinese officials on the weekend reiterated their commitment to a strict COVID containment approach and could cap appreciation bias of the local unit, Iyer noted. The key triggers for currencies this week will be the US inflation rate data followed by several speeches by Fed officials.