Rupee falls 7 paise to close at ₹79.93 against U.S. dollar

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.50% at 108.13.

The rupee declined by 7 paise to close at ₹79.93 (provisional) after moving in a narrow range against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened at ₹79.80 per dollar. It hovered in a range of ₹79.80 to ₹79.93 during the session.

The domestic unit finally settled at ₹79.93, down 7 paise over its previous close of ₹79.86.

"The Indian rupee stayed in a narrow range and underperformed among Asian currencies. China's stimulus to boost the economy supported regional peers while the local unit remained under pressure following high crude oil prices and risk-off moods at the domestic bourses," said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Mr. Parmar further said that Spot USD/INR, in the near term, is expected to trade in the range of ₹79.60 to ₹80.10 ahead of monthly rebalancing tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.50% at 108.13.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.39% to $101.61 per barrel.