The rupee appreciated by 15 paise to close at 79.48 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking foreign fund inflows and easing crude oil prices.

At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.59 against the greenback and finally settled at 79.48 (provisional), registering a rise of 15 paise over its previous close.

During the session, the local unit witnessed an intra-day high of 79.41 and a low of 79.59 against the American currency. In the previous session on Monday, the rupee had closed at 79.63 against the US dollar.

The forex market was closed on Tuesday on account of 'Muharram'.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.18 per cent at 106.18.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.10 per cent to USD 95.25 per barrel.

"The Indian rupee outperforms among Asian currencies amid corporate dollar inflows and lacklustre global cues ahead of US inflation data," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

The market is pricing in a cool-down in US inflation from the previous reading from 9.1 per cent to 8.7 per cent year-on-year.

"However, the US Fed remains hawkish and wants to see a clear decelerating trend before slowing the pace of tightening before the next FOMC meeting on September 21, which will bid well for the dollar," Parmar said.

In the near-term, spot USDINR is expected to trade in the range of 78.85 to 79.90, he added.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 35.78 points or 0.06 per cent lower at 58,817.29 points, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 9.65 points or 0.06 per cent to 17,534.75.

Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Monday, purchasing shares worth Rs 1,449.70 crore, as per exchange data.