Indian rupee opened lower against the greenback on Monday, as the dollar hovered near a two-week high against a basket of currencies.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 71.40 a dollar, down 21 paise from its Friday’s close of 71.19. The home currency opened at 71.34 and touched a high and a low of 71.34 and 71.40 a dollar, respectively.

The rupee on Friday weakened by 16 paise to close at 71.19 against the US dollar amid rise in demand for the greenback from exporters and unabated increase in global crude oil prices.

The local currency lost ground today on account of rise in the US dollar.

The dollar was steady near two-week high, supported by a sustained recovery in investor risk appetite which nudged US bond yields higher.

The dollar index, which measures its strength against a group of six major currencies, was steady at 96.315 after climbing to 96.394 percent on Friday, its strongest since Jan. 4.

Oil prices dipped on Monday as China reported its weakest annual economic growth in 28 years.

International Brent crude oil futures were at $62.57 per barrel at 0215 GMT, down 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth Rs 842.13 crore Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 727.46 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds up 0.3 percent to 7.33 percent from its previous close of 7.31 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

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