New Delhi: The rupee depreciated 9 paise to 79.04 against the US dollar in opening trade on Tuesday, weighed down by persistent foreign funds outflows. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.04 against the US dollar, registering a decline of 9 paise over the last close.

On Monday, the rupee had closed at 78.95 against the US dollar.

According to Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, the rupee is expected to remain range-bound against the dollar this Tuesday.

"Stronger crude oil, weak Asian and emerging market currencies, a rising dollar and benchmark bond yields could keep appreciation bias capped. However, equity futures in Asia have started with gains and could cap depreciation bias," Iyer said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 267.65 points or 0.50 percent higher at 53,502.42, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 89.10 points or 0.56 percent to 15,924.45.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was at 105.14.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.03 percent to USD 113.47 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,149.56 crore, as per exchange data.

(With PTI inputs)

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