The Indian rupee settled for the day 5 paise lower at 83.56 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, weighed down by a weak tone in domestic markets and a recovery in crude oil prices. The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex hit an intraday low of 79,464 before recovering much of the losses to end down 27 points at 79,897. The broader NSE Nifty index closed down 9 points at 24,316, after having touched a low of 24,194 earlier due to apprehensions over the quarterly earnings season. Rupee traded with a slight negative bias on profit booking in the domestic market. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.49, but lost ground and touched an intraday low of 83.59 against the American currency during the session. Meanwhile, the dollar index is trading marginally lower at 104.55, awaiting further clarity on Federal rate stance and dollar direction going forward. US inflation data due later in the global day will add to clarity and direction for the counter.
