Mumbai, Jan 12 (PTI) The rupee recovered from low levels and settled 2 paise higher at 90.16 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday on weak American currency and sliding crude oil prices.

Equity market sentiment also improved after the new US envoy to India, Sergio Gor, said that both sides are actively engaged in firming up a trade deal, forex analysts said.

However, a volatile geopolitical situation kept the domestic currency under pressure, restricting its recovery, they said. Also, traders awaited cues from domestic and US macroeconomic data to be released this week.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.23 and strengthened to 90.13 during intra-day. It also touched a low of 90.25 before ending the session at 90.16 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 2 paise from its previous closing level.

On Friday, the rupee depreciated by 28 paise to close at 90.18 against the US dollar.

The rupee opened weak on risk aversion in global markets and rising geopolitical tensions, but recovered on a bounce back in domestic markets after US Ambassador Sergio Gor said that the delegates of both nations are working to finalise a trade deal, said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

"Traders now focus on inflation data from the US and India. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 89.90 to Rs 90.60," he added.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.34 per cent lower at 98.55.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.28 per cent lower at USD 63.16 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex gained 301.93 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 83,878.17, while the Nifty rose 106.95 points or 0.42 per cent to 25,790.25.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,769.31 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The latest weekly data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday showed India's forex reserves dropped by USD 9.809 billion to USD 686.801 billion in the week to January 2. In the previous week, the reserves had jumped by USD 3.293 billion to USD 696.61 billion. PTI HVA ANU ANU

Rupee rises to 90.16 as dollar weakens and crude falls; RBI weekly forex reserves show a notable decline. Rupee recovered to 90.16 against the US dollar, aided by a weaker dollar, falling crude oil futures and improved equity sentiment tied to progress in trade talks; analysts noted upcoming US and Indian macro data as near term drivers. Foreign institutional investor outflows and a weekly decline in forex reserves reported by the Reserve Bank heightened vulnerability, while geopolitical tensions limited a stronger rebound.