The rupee declined 5 paise to 83.96 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking a strong greenback against major currencies overseas and a sluggish trend in domestic equities.

However, lower crude oil prices in international markets capped the decline in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened 3 paise lower at 83.94 against the American currency and traded in the range of 83.94-83.98 during the day.

It finally settled at 83.96 (provisional) against the US dollar, 5 paise lower than its previous close.

On Monday, the domestic currency settled at 83.91.

"The rupee in tandem with Asian currencies fell to its support zone of 83.97 as the Reserve Bank of India seemed to present at 83.97 to protect any further weakness in the currency. There was good amount of FPI and oil companies outflow which resulted in the rupee reaching near to the all-time low of 83.97," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director of Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Meanwhile, Sensex recovered most of its losses to settle at 82,555.44 for the day, 4.40 points below its previous close, while the Nifty inched up 1.15 points to 25,279.85.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.15 per cent at 101.80.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, declined 2.1 per cent to 76.26 in futures trade.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Monday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,735.46 crore, according to exchange data.

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