Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Mumbai, Jun 1: The Indian rupee opened marginally higher against the US dollar on Monday, even as rising crude oil prices and expectations of continued foreign portfolio outflows weighed on market sentiment.

The rupee opened at 94.97 against the US dollar, gaining 3 paise from Friday's closing level of 95.

According to market experts at CR Forex Advisors, the 95.50-95.75 range continues to act as a strong resistance zone for the USD-INR pair. They noted that if crude oil prices remain stable and global risk sentiment improves further, the rupee could gradually strengthen towards the 94.00-94.50 range in the near term.

Meanwhile, the US dollar remained largely steady after recording weekly losses, with investors awaiting developments in Middle East peace negotiations and fresh signals from major central banks regarding interest rate decisions.

Most Asian currencies traded lower against the dollar on Monday, reflecting broad-based strength in the US currency.

The South Korean won emerged as the worst-performing Asian currency, declining 0.611 per cent. It was followed by the Indonesian rupiah, which fell 0.196 per cent, while the Thai baht slipped 0.187 per cent.

The Philippine peso weakened by 0.151 per cent, while the Japanese yen declined 0.125 per cent. The Singapore dollar lost 0.086 per cent, and the Malaysian ringgit edged down by 0.013 per cent.

The New Taiwan dollar remained largely unchanged, slipping just 0.010 per cent.

Among major Asian currencies, the Chinese renminbi was the only one to register gains, strengthening 0.140 per cent against the US dollar.