Mumbai: The Indian rupee on Thursday appreciated by 9 paise to 71.15 against the US dollar in opening trade. It is driven by positive opening in domestic equities and weakening greenback in international markets.

Indian currency gained further ground and touched a high of 71.13 amid easing crude prices, displaying rise of 11 paise over its previous close against the greenback.

The rupee on Wednesday jumped by 19 paise to close at 71.24 against the US dollar. Forex dealers said that the easing prices of crude oil and selling of the American currency by exporters supported the rupee. Sustained foreign fund outflows, however, restricted the rupee upmove.

As per the provisional data, Foreign funds on Wednesday pulled out Rs 90.10 crore from the capital markets on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 304.27 crore Wednesday.

Talking about benchmark BSE Sensex, it was trading with gains of 79.29 points, or 0.22 per cent at 36,400.58 . As far as NSE Nifty is concerned, it was trading at 10,913.95, up 23.65 points, or 0.22 per cent. Meanwhile, brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading lower at 61.04 per barrel lower by 0.46 per cent.