The rupee witnessed range-bound trading against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, amid a negative trend in the domestic equity market. Forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market and elevated crude oil prices also weighed on the local unit and restricted the upmove. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.52 and gained further to trade at 83.45 against the greenback in initial deals, registering an increase of 12 paise from its previous closing level. On Friday, the rupee hit the lowest level of 83.63 but finally settled at 83.57 against the dollar, registering a gain of 4 paise from its previous close. "Price action on Friday seemed to indicate purposeful intervention by the central bank," IFA Global said in a research note, adding that the rupee is likely to trade in 83.40-83.67 range with sideways price action. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six ... Read The Rest at :