Indian rupee strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Monday supported by US ambassador-designate Sergio Gor’s optimistic comments about a bilateral trade deal between India and US. Further, he said that no country is as essential than India for Washington and both sides are actively engaged in firming up a trade deal. However, persistent fund outflows by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have capped gains in the rupee. FIIs were the net sellers on Friday’s session, offloading securities worth Rs 3,769.31 crore. On the global front, the Japanese yen weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday, due to uncertainty around the Bank of Japan's upcoming interest rate hike and reports that Japan's Takaichi would hold an early election.

Finally, the rupee ended at 90.16 (Provisional), strengthened by 2 paise from its previous close of 90.18 on Friday. The currency touched a high and low of 90.25 and 90.13 respectively.