MUMBAI, The rupee settled 3 paise higher at 88.63 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, as the firm tracks domestic equity markets and lower global crude oil prices.

However, a stronger greenback against foreign major currencies and foreign fund outflows weighed on the local unit, according to forex traders.

In the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.70 and touched an intra-day high of 88.56 and a low of 88.73 against the dollar.

The unit last settled at 88.63 (provisional) against the dollar, up 3 paise from its previous close.

The rupee rose 4 paise to settle at 88.66 against the US currency on Friday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading up 0.29 percent at 99.29.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures traded down 0.81 percent at USD 63.87 a barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex gained 388.17 points, or 0.46 percent, to settle at 84,950.95, while the Nifty gained 103.40 points, or 0.40 percent, to settle at 26,013.45.

India’s exports fell 11.8 percent to $34.38 billion in October, the latest government data released on Monday showed. On the other hand, imports increased by 16.63 percent to USD 76.06 billion, widening the trade deficit to USD 41.68 billion.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors on Friday invested Rs. 4,968.22 crore equity was sold. PTI