MUMBAI: The rupee appreciated by 47 paise to close at 79.44 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, supported by a firm trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank forex market, the local unit opened at 79.92 against the greenback. It witnessed an intra-day high of 79.44 and a low of 79.92 against the American currency during the session.
It finally ended at 79.44 against the US dollar, up 47 paise from its previous close of 79.91.
In the previous session, the rupee depreciated 7 paise to close at 79.91 against the American dollar. The rupee fell to its all-time low of 80.15 against the US dollar in intra-day trade.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.06 per cent to 108.76.
Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 2.23 per cent to USD 102.75 per barrel.
"Indian rupee outperformed among the regional currencies following month-end rebalancing inflows and recovery in risk assets on the expectation of inflows. Most of the Asian currencies firmed after a sharp drop on Monday," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.
Parmar further said that the rupee registered the biggest one-day gains after July 29, and Tuesday's move affirms the short-term reversal in the trend and "we could see further appreciation towards 79.20 and 78.70 while breaking of 79.80 will negate the said view," he said.
On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 1,564.45 points or 2.70 per cent higher at 59,537.07 points, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 154.10 points or 0.89 per cent to 17,467.00.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday, offloading shares worth Rs 561.22 crore, as per exchange data.
