New Delhi, Jul 13 (PTI) The rupee strengthened further by 10 paise to close at 82.08 against the US dollar on Thursday, marking its fourth straight session of gain following a firm trend in domestic equities and a weak greenback against major crosses overseas.

However, strengthening crude prices in the international market restricted the upside move in the local unit, forex traders said.

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At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened sharply up at 81.98 against the US dollar. It lost some ground later to settle at 82.08, up by 10 paise over the previous close.

During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 81.95 and a low of 82.14. This is the fourth straight day of rise for the rupee, during which it has gained 53 paise. On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 82.18 against the dollar.

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"...at opening the rupee broke above 82 but witnessed some profit booking thereafter as secondary capital markets witnessed selling or profit booking from all time high in Nifty and closing near 19,413.

"The rupee found broad support from Dollar weakness, which now trades below USD 100 after CPI data in the US came lower than expected at 3 per cent against 3.1 per cent, sending strong support to rupee buyers," Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.20 per cent to 99.99.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.09 per cent to USD 80.18 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee continued its winning streak for the fourth day in a row following stronger Asian currencies and foreign fund inflows. The local unit reversed part of its morning gains in anticipation of central bank intervention around 82," Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.

The rupee strengthened against the US dollar driven by broad weakness in the dollar after easing inflation in the United States could allow the Fed to pause interest rate hikes soon, Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

"However, importers' dollar demand seen, profit taking on short dollar position and dollar bulls trying to keep 82.00 support level on pair intact kept appreciation bias capped for the local unit.

"Investors also speculated that further appreciation above the 82.00 level for the Rupee could prompt the RBI to intervene in the markets and capped gains," Iyer added.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 164.99 points or 0.25 per cent higher at 65,558.89. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 29.45 points or 0.15 per cent to 19,413.75.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) emerged as net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 2,237.93 crore.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)