The rupee appreciated 7 paise to settle at 83.38 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday backed by renewed foreign fund inflows.

Forex traders said the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, elevated crude oil prices and US dollar demand from oil marketing companies capped sharp gains for the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.42 and hit the intraday high of 83.36 and a low of 83.49 against the greenback during the session.

It finally settled at 83.38 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 7 paise from its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 12 paise to settle at 83.45 against the US dollar.

According to Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, rupee gained to 83.3750 earlier in the day on boost from inclusion of Indian bonds in the JP Morgan's emerging markets bond index.

However, a positive US dollar and a rise in crude oil prices capped sharp gains.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias on the strong US dollar and a surge in crude oil prices. Dollar demand from oil marketing companies (OMCs) and importers may also weigh on the rupee," Choudhary said.

Choudhary further noted that fresh foreign inflows and positive tone in the domestic equities may support the rupee.

"Traders may take cues from India's fiscal deficit data. Traders may also take cues from core PCE price index, personal income and Chicago PMI data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.20 to Rs 83.80," he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 105.91, higher by 0.01 per cent.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.86 per cent to USD 87.13 per barrel.

In the domestic equity market, benchmark sensitive indices witnessed heavy volatility. It scaled new intraday peaks but pared the gains and settled for the day in the negative territory.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 210.45 points, or 0.27 per cent, to close at 79,032.73 points. The broader NSE Nifty settled 33.90 points, or 0.14 per cent, lower at 24,010.60 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday, as they purchased shares worth Rs 7,658.77 crore, according to exchange data.

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