The rupee appreciated 9 paise to 82.16 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday (April 20, 2023), as crude oil prices retreated from its elevated levels.

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Forex traders said a positive trend in domestic equities also supported the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.21 against the dollar, then rose to 82.16, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday (April 19, 2023), the rupee settled at 82.25 against the dollar.

The dollar index — which gauges the dollar against six currencies other than the rupee — fell 0.03 per cent to 101.93. The index compares the dollar to the yen, the pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona, the Swiss franc and the euro.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1 per cent to USD 82.29 per barrel.

"Crude oil was unable to hold on to its previous session's gains and plunged again amid growing concerns of economic recession and Fed rate hike fears," said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd.

Kalantri further noted that "two of the Fed officials advocated for further interest rate hikes due to inflation concerns while the dollar index and the US bond yields also jumped again that restricted gains of global commodities."

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 175.64 points or 0.29 per cent higher at 59,743.44 while the broader NSE Nifty was up 28.05 points or 0.16 per cent up at 17,646.80 at 10.05 AM IST on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 13.17 crore, according to exchange data.

With PTI inputs