Rupee recovers 8 paise to close at ₹79.91 against U.S. dollar

The rupee recovered 8 paise to settle at 79.91 (provisional) against the U.S. currency on Friday, tracking heavy buying in domestic equities and weakness in the greenback overseas.

Besides, fresh foreign capital inflows also supported the local unit, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at ₹79.95 and witnessed an intra-day high of ₹79.82 and a low of ₹79.96 against the U.S. dollar in the day trade.

The local unit finally settled at ₹79.91 a dollar, up 8 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee had settled at a record low of ₹79.99 against the U.S. dollar.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.10% lower at 108.43.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose by 0.67% to $99.76 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 344.63 points or 0.65% higher at 53,760.78, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 110.55 points or 0.69% to 16,049.20.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in the capital market on Thursday, as they bought shares worth ₹309 crore, as per exchange data.