The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at 82.73 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, tracking its regional peers and lower crude oil prices.

Forex traders said a muted trend in domestic equities and foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiments and restricted the appreciation bias.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.78 against the American currency and finally settled at 82.73 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 15 paise over its previous close of 82.88.

During the trading session, the rupee touched a high of 82.71 and a low of 82.79 against the dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.02 per cent to 104.61.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures advanced 0.34 per cent to USD 80.87 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee appreciated after two days of downtick on stronger regional peers and lower crude oil prices. After last night's February FOMC minutes, the US yields strengthen while the dollar has been quite muted," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar further added, "In the near-term, we believe spot USDINR to consolidate between 82.50 to 83 but the directional trend remains bullish as long as it holds 81.70." On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 139.18 points or 0.23 per cent to end at 59,605.80, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 43.05 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,511.25.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 579.82 crore, according to exchange data.

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