Mumbai: Dragged down by growing oil costs and import payments by refiners, the Indian rupee could relieve today.

US crude traded above $74 per barrel, heading toward an all-time high of $78.77 hit in early August. Oil is India's biggest import.

The rupee closed at 40.885/895 a dollar on Monday, slightly below its last closure of 40.875/885.

Data on Monday depicted that India’s trade deficit in July extended by a quarter from a year earlier, as a speedily rising financial system took up imports.