Rising for the first time this week, the rupee appreciated by 12 paise to settle at 83.15 against the US dollar on Friday amid a weak American currency and positive equity market sentiment.

The Indian currency, however, remained under pressure due to continuous upward movement in the crude oil price triggered by evolving geopolitical situation and outflow of foreign funds, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic currency opened at 83.25 and traded in the range of 83.11 to 83.27 against the greenback during intra-day. The local unit finally settled at 83.15 (provisional), registering a gain of 12 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the domestic currency settled 9 paise lower at 83.27 against the dollar. On Wednesday, the unit traded in a flat note and settled at 83.18, a day after ending the session at the same level with a loss of 8 paise on Tuesday. On Monday, the currency had declined 7 paise to close at 83.10.

Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said, "The dollar index trending weak has been a major support for rupee as dollar has fallen from 104 to 101.70 in a matter of 10 sessions. However, the overall trend for the rupee remains sideways within the range of 82.90-83.40 zones. " The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 101.41 on Friday.

Global oil price benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.97 per cent to USD 80.16 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 241.86 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 71,106.96. The broader NSE Nifty soared 94.35 points or 0.44 per cent to 21,349.40.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the equity market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,636.19 crore, according to exchange data.

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