The Indian rupee gained 29 paise to close provisionally at 79.45  against the U.S dollar on Wednesday, August 17,  as heavy buying in share markets and persistent foreign capital inflows strengthened investor sentiment.

In addition, softening crude oil prices and easing inflationary pressures supported the domestic market, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened strongly against the US dollar at 79.32 and had touched an intraday high and low of 79.26 and 79.48, respectively. It eventually closed at 79.45 against the US dollar, up 29 pence from its previous closing of 79.74.

The dollar index, which measures the value of the dollar relative to a basket of six different currencies, increased 0.06% to 79.74.

On the Indian share market front, the BSE Sensex closed 417.92 points or 0.70% higher at 60,260.13 on the domestic equities market, while the larger NSE Nifty gained 119 points or 0.67% to 17,944.25.

The benchmark for world oil, Brent crude futures, fell 0.06% to USD 92.28 a barrel.

According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors continued to be net purchasers on Tuesday, buying shares worth Rs. 1,376.84 crore. Foreign investors have continued to buy Indian stocks after becoming net buyers last month, investing a total of Rs. 22,452 crore in the first two weeks of August.

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