Mumbai: The rupee appreciated 9 paise to 79.81 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, supported by the fall in crude oil prices.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.86 against the American dollar. In initial trade, the local currency witnessed a high of 79.81 and a low of 79.87 against the US dollar.

In the previous session, the rupee had closed at 79.90 against the American currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.10 per cent to 106.62.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.54 per cent to USD 102.62 per barrel.

According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury, Finrex Treasury Advisors, the rupee opened higher as oil moved down along with a lower dollar index.

The euro has not been able to go up much as the market awaits cues from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on 27 July.

Meanwhile, since not much data is available, the rupee should see a range-bound movement between 79.60 to 79.90 for the day, Bhansali said.

On the domestic equity front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 95.33 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 55,976.90, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 31.80 points or 0.19 per cent to 16,687.65.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Friday as they sold shares worth Rs 675.45 crore, as per exchange data.