Rupee opens 14 paise higher at 70.42 against US dollar

The rupee climbed 14 paise to 70.42 against the US dollar in the opening deals on Monday. The domestic unit on Friday spurted by 32 paise to close at a nearly two-month high of 70.56 as crude oil prices receded following reports that Saudi Arabia had agreed on a temporary ceasefire in Yemen.

The local unit notched up gains of 38 paise on a weekly basis.

In the capital markets, after remaining net sellers for the past two months, foreign investors infused a net Rs 7,714 crore into the domestic capital markets in September following a slew of economic reforms by the government. However, FPI inflows into India will also be influenced by how the economy performs and how soon corporate earnings recover, VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services said. The US Fed's monetary stance and global liquidity are also crucial in determining FPI flows, he said.

On the global front, Asian stock markets, including China’s, were little changed on Monday, shrugging off news that the US administration is considering delisting Chinese companies from US stock exchanges. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.05 per cent while China's Shanghai stock index slipped 0.2 per cent, Reuters reported.

In commodities, oil prices edged higher, rebounding from a two-week low in the previous session, although gains were checked by concerns about the outlook for the global economy. Brent crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $62.12 a barrel while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 14 cents, or 0.3 per cent to $56.05 a barrel.