The rupee opened higher against the greenback on Thursday, breaking its 3-day losing streak, helped by lower crude oil prices and a steady US dollar.

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Trader sentiment is likely to be cautious ahead of the voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha elections starting today.

Voting for the second phase will begin on Thursday across 97 Lok Sabha constituencies spread over 12 states and one union territory. The counting will be held on May 23.

At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 69.50 a dollar, up 10 paise from its Tuesday’s close of 69.60. The home currency opened at 69.48 and touched a high and a low of 69.47 and 69.51 a dollar, respectively.

The local currency has depreciated by 68 paise in the last three days.

Forex and equity markets were shut on Wednesday on account of “Mahavir Jayanti” while most of the major financial markets are closed on Friday for the start of the Easter holidays.

According to forex experts, the bias for the rupee remains bullish following foreign fund flows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, putting in Rs 1,038.58 crore Tuesday, as per provisional data.

Globally, the dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was flat at 97.015 after dipping 0.05 percent the previous day.

The US currency was steady at 112.035 yen after briefly touching a four-month peak of 112.17 on Wednesday amid a bounce in US Treasury yields to a one-month high.

In commodity markets, oil prices edged down on Thursday despite a surprise decline in US inventories.

International Brent crude futures were at $71.51 a barrel at 0056 GMT, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close. Brent fell 0.1 percent on Wednesday, after earlier touching its highest since Nov. 8 at $72.27 a barrel.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.30 percent to 7.41 percent from its previous close of 7.39 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.