The rupee gained 9 paise to 82.16 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday as crude oil prices retreated from its elevated levels.

Forex traders said a positive trend in domestic equities also supported the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.21 against the dollar, then rose to 82.16, registering a rise of 9 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupee closed at 82.25 against the US currency.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.03 per cent to 101.93.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, declined 1 per cent to USD 82.29 per barrel.

"Crude oil was unable to hold on to its previous session's gains and plunged again amid growing concerns of economic recession and Fed rate hike fears," said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd.

Kalantri further noted that "two of the Fed officials advocated for further interest rate hikes due to inflation concerns while the dollar index and the US bond yields also jumped again that restricted gains of global commodities." In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 229.93 points or 0.39 per cent to 59,797.73. The broader NSE Nifty gained 51.30 points or 0.29 per cent to 17,670.05.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 13.17 crore, according to exchange data.

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