Indian rupee opened marginally lower against the greenback on Wednesday, as investors were cautious ahead of RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee outcome scheduled for February 7.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 71.59 a dollar, down 2 paise from its Tuesday’s close of 71.57. The home currency opened at 71.55 and touched a high and a low of 71.54 and 71.60 a dollar, respectively.

The rupee on Monday ticked higher by 23 paise to close at 71.57 per US dollar Tuesday amid fresh foreign fund inflows and gains in domestic equities.

The domestic currency remained range bound today, on account of steady US dollar and ahead of the next meeting of RBI’s monetary policy tomorrow.

The Reserve Bank may cut key lending rate by 0.25 percent later this week in view of benign inflation, said an SBI research report.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies hovered near an 11-day high of 96.12 reached overnight.

In commodity markets, oil prices pulled back from two-month highs after weak US factory orders data rekindled economic slowdown worries, though sanctions on Venezuelan oil and crude OPEC-led supply cuts limited losses.

Brent crude futures fell 20 cents to $62.32. They touched their highest in more than two months at $63.63 the previous day.

Meanwhile, foreign funds purchased shares worth Rs 420.65 crore on a net basis, and domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 194.31 crore Tuesday, provisional data showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds down 0.34 percent to 7.38 percent from its previous close of 7.41 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.