Rupee vs Dollar: Rupee moved in a tight range of 70.31 to 70.22 in the morning trade.

The rupee weakened by 19 paise to 70.25 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday due to fresh buying of the American currency by importers and banks, news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. A higher opening of domestic equity market, however, capped the loss, traders were quoted as saying in a PTI report. On Wednesday, the rupee settled 8 paise higher at 70.06 against the US currency. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened lower at 70.27 a dollar against the previous close of 70.06. The local unit moved in a tight range of 70.31 to 70.22 in the morning trade. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 1.18 per cent at $54.64 per barrel.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 391 points and Nifty50 barometer of the National Stock Exchange reclaimed the 10,800 level on positive cues from Wall Street as US stocks recovered from heavy losses after the White House assured that US President Trump had no intention of firing the Fed chairman.

Asian shares, meanwhile, rode a dramatic surge on Wall Street as markets, hammered by a recent drum roll of deepening political and economic gloom, cheered upbeat US data and the Trump administration's effort to shore up investor confidence.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 80.28 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 137.63 crore.