The rupee gained 12 paise to close at 74.30 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, tracking positive domestic equities. At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 74.41 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.25 and finally ended the day at 74.30, registering a gain of 12 paise from its previous close of 74.42.

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Positive moves in Indian equity indices and stronger Asian currencies aided sentiments, forex traders said, adding that Omicron worries and firm crude oil prices restricted the appreciation bias of the local unit to some extent. On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 142.81 points or 0.24 percent higher at 59,744.65, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 66.80 points or 0.38 percent to 17,812.70.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against the basket of six currencies, fell 0.21 percent to 96.11. "Taking cues from regional currencies, the rupee appreciated against the US dollar. As markets started pricing in a surge in virus cases and Fed's tapering, risk assets started recovering after initial jerks and dollar weakened," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further said that the Indian rupee is expected to outperform in the near term following better inflows in the debt market. The local currency is likely to oscillate in the range of 74.10 to 74.50, he said.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.99 percent to USD 82.80 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,926.77 crore, as per exchange data.

First Published:Jan 7, 2022 4:50 PM IST