Mumbai, Oct 20 (PTI) The rupee rose 9 paise to close at 87.93 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, supported by foreign fund inflows and lower crude oil prices.

Positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets lent further support to the local unit, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 87.94 against the US dollar and traded in the range of 87.74-87.94 during the day before settling at 87.93 (provisional), higher by 9 paise against its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee closed at 88.02 against the US dollar.

"The Reserve Bank of India ensured that the rupee opened below 88... There was no specific development on the India-US trade front, while on the US-China front, the talks by government officials gave hope that US-China trade developments could be solved amicably," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Executive Director, Finrex, said.

Stock exchanges will hold a special Muhurat trading session on Tuesday from 1.45 pm to 2.45 pm for Laxmi Pujan, according to notices by the BSE and the NSE.

The forex markets, however, will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

"After two days' holidays from Tuesday, the rupee is expected to be in the range of 87.70-88.30 on Thursday," Bhansali added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, edged up 0.1 per cent to 98.53.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.36 per cent to USD 61.07 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex soared 411.18 points to settle at 84,363.37, while Nifty climbed 133.30 points to 25,843.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 308.98 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

India's forex reserves dropped by USD 2.176 billion to USD 697.784 billion during the week ended October 10, the RBI data released on Friday showed. PTI TRB DR DR

Reserve Bank intervention supports rupee appreciation amid foreign inflows and lower oil prices, with markets closed for holidays. Rupee appreciation was attributed to Reserve Bank operational influence over the exchange rate, foreign portfolio inflows, and lower crude oil prices; equity gains and FII purchases supported the unit, markets were set to be closed for holidays, a near term trading band was forecast, and weekly forex reserves declined.