Mumbai, Aug 24 (PTI) The rupee traded in a narrow range and rose 7 paise to 95.64 against the American currency in early trade on Monday, supported by a softer US dollar, but simmering geopolitical tensions kept it from making strong gains.

Forex traders said the Dollar Index has weakened, but elevated Brent crude and persistent importer demand limited the rupee's gains.

Moreover, investors are treading a cautious path as Washington is set to unveil a fresh wave of sanctions on Iran, targeting its oil trade, banking network and shipping routes.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.68, then rose to 95.64, higher by 7 paise from its previous close.

On Friday, the rupee settled higher by just 3 paise at 95.71 against the US dollar.

"The worry for markets isn't just Iran, it's who else gets caught in the crossfire, since several major economies continue to engage with Iranian trade in some form. Until the details are out this evening, oil and currency markets are likely to stay cautious," CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.82, higher by 0.03 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 1.32 per cent at USD 93.14 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic market front, Sensex climbed 202.42 points to 77,744.15 in early trade, while the Nifty was trading up 55.35 points at 24,309.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 542.71 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.

India's forex reserves jumped USD 9.905 billion to USD 716.907 billion during the week ended August 14, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Friday. PTI DRR DR DR