The Indian rupee continued to trade in range bound moves to settled for the day lower by 1 paisa at 83.96 (provisional) against US dollar on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank expectedly kept the benchmark interest rate and stance unchanged for the ninth straight policy meeting. Weak domestic markets, surge in crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee. The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session down 581.79 points, or 0.73 percent, at 78,886.22 as the Reserve Bank of India kept interest rates steady, as widely expected, and maintained its hawkish stance due to persistently high food inflation. The broader NSE Nifty index settled at 24,117, down 180.50 points, or 0.74 percent, from its previous close. However, a decline in the US Dollar index prevented the local unit from declining sharply. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.94 and touched an intraday low of 83.97 and a high of 83.93 against the dollar during the session.
