Rupee falls 15 paise to 82.31 against U.S. dollar

The rupee declined 15 paise to close at 82.31 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday amid a rise in crude prices and a firm greenback in the overseas market.

However, a strong sentiment in domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows restricted a sharp fall of the local currency, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic unit opened sharply lower at 82.26 and touched an intra-day high of 82.23 and a low of 82.37 against the greenback.

It finally ended at 82.31 (provisional), registering a fall of 15 paise over its previous close of 82.16.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, gained 0.02% to 102.13.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 346.37 points or 0.60% to end at 57,960.09 points while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 129 points or 0.76% to 17,080.70 points.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.94% to $79.39 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital market on Tuesday as they bought shares worth ₹1,531.13 crore, as per exchange data.