The international benchmark for oil prices- Brent crude futures (February)- rose 8 cents or 0.2 percent to USD 50.05 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 4 cents or 0.1%, at $46.61 per barrel.

Notably, Crude Oil prices have rallied for 6 consecutive weeks, their longest stretch of gains since June, as the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in foreign countries, have buoyed optimism that pandemic restrictions could end soon and lift demand for fuel.

Meantime The Indian rupee opened flat at 73.64 per dollar on Monday against Friday's close of 73.65 as the Indian equity market benchmarks hit another record high. Rising crude oil prices together with widening trade deficit have lifted up the depreciation risk level for the Indian rupee.

Last week, foreign institutional investors (FPIS)  infused over Rs 15,000 crore into the equity markets pushing Sensex and Nifty higher while the Reserve Bank's forex reserves touch another lifetime high.

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