The rupee extended previous day’s rally and opened higher against the greenback on Thursday, as optimism surrounding the ongoing US-China trade talks lifted global risk appetite.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 71.06 a dollar, up 5 paise from its Wednesday’s close of 71.11. The home currency opened at 71.05 and touched a high and a low of 71.05 and 71.09 a dollar, respectively.

The domestic currency snapped a four-day losing streak and appreciated by 23 paise to end 71.11 against the US dollar Wednesday.

The gains come after the US President Donald Trump Tuesday said the negotiations were going very well, but refrained from committing any extension of the March 1 deadline to arrive at an understanding.

Globally, the dollar inched higher after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting revived expectations for a possible US rate hike this year.

The Fed, in the minutes of its latest meeting in January, said the US economy and its labour market remained strong, prompting some expectations of at least one more interest rate hike this year.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies added 0.1 percent to 96.569, crawling away from a two-week trough of 96.286 marked on Wednesday.

In commodity markets, oil prices hovered close to 2019 highs on Thursday, bolstered by OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, reported Reuters.

International Brent crude futures were at $67.14 per barrel, 6 cents above their last close and not far off their 2019 peak, hit the day before, of $67.38 per barrel.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pumped in Rs 713.47 crore on a net basis in capital markets Wednesday.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds down 0.41 percent to 7.34 percent from its previous close of 7.37 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.