Rupee declines 8 paise to close at 82.16 against U.S. dollar

The rupee, after the initial high of 81.94, saw a sharp fall towards 82.21 as the dollar index rallied

Snapping its four-day winning run, the rupee depreciated by 8 paise to close at 82.16 against the U.S. dollar on Friday following a rebound in the American currency against global peers and firm crude prices.

However, strong buying in domestic equity markets restricted losses in the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 81.97 against the U.S. dollar. Later, it erased all the gains to settle at 82.16, down by 8 paise over the previous close.

During the session, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 81.92 and a low of 82.17. In the previous session on Thursday, the rupee had closed at 82.08 against the dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, strengthened by 0.10% to 99.56.

"The rupee, after the initial high of 81.94, saw a sharp fall towards 82.21 as the dollar index rallied from lows of 99.25 to 99.65 along with higher crude prices," Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.04% to $$81.33 per barrel.