Indian rupee opened 30 paise higher against the US dollar on Monday, as the greenback weakened following dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 69.41 a dollar, up 31 paise from its Friday’s close of 69.72. The home currency opened at 69.42 and touched a high and a low of 69.36 and 69.44 a dollar, respectively.

The Indian rupee Friday rebounded by 48 paise to settle at 69.72 against the US dollar in line with smart gains in domestic equities and uptrend in other emerging market currencies.

Aiding the rupee sentiment was the dollar, which weakened against its peers on Monday. The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, stood at 96.12 early on Monday, down 0.07 percent.

The decline in dollar comes after Powell, on Friday, told the American Economic Association that the Fed is not on a preset path of interest rate hikes and that it will be sensitive to the downside risks the markets are pricing in.

Oil prices rose by around 1 percent on Monday, lifted by optimism that talks could soon resolve the trade war between the United States and China.

Brent crude futures were at $57.61 per barrel at 0111 GMT, up 55 cents, or 1 percent, from their last close.

Meanwhile, foreign funds pulled out Rs 157.72 crore from the capital markets on a net basis Friday, while domestic institutional investors bought equities to the tune of Rs 240.60 crore, provisional data showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds rose 0.3 percent to 7.45 percent from its previous close of 7.43 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

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