In early trading, the Indian rupee gained 44 paise to 79.30 against the US dollar

In the first trade on Wednesday, the rupee strengthened 44 paise to 79.30 against the US dollar, primarily due to inflows of foreign capital. In addition, according to FX dealers, a strong start in domestic equities despite easing inflationary pressures bolstered investor mood.

The rupee rose 44 paise over the previous closing at the interbank foreign exchange, rising strongly to 79.30 versus the dollar after opening at 79.32. The rupee lost 12 paise to end the previous session on Friday at 79.74 against the US dollar.

Due to Independence Day and the Parsi New Year, the foreign exchange markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The dollar index, which measures how strong the dollar is relative to a basket of six different currencies, fell 0.06 percent to 106.44.

In the meantime, the benchmark Brent crude futures price for world oil increased 0.34 percent to USD 92.65 per barrel. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors continued to be net purchasers on Tuesday, buying shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore.

Foreign investors have continued to buy Indian stocks after becoming net buyers last month, investing a total of Rs 22,452 crore in the first two weeks of August. The 30-share Sensex was up 131.78 points, or 0.22 percent, at 59,973.99 points on the domestic equities market, while the larger NSE Nifty was up 49.15 points, or 0.28 percent, at 17,874.40 points.

Due to lower prices for manufactured goods and food items, wholesale price-based inflation inched down to a five-month low of 13.93% in July.