The Indian rupee on September 8 strengthened past the 83 mark after hitting a record low on closing basis amid likely intervention from Reserve Bank of India, dealers said. The home currency ended at 82.94 a dollar, up 0.33 percent from its previous close of 83.21. The domestic currency opened at 83.15 and touched a high and a low of 82.91 and 83.17, respectively. “State-run banks sold dollars on behalf of the central bank,” a dealer said on the condition of anonymity.

Analysts said apart from RBI intervention, the apex bank’s decision to discontinue incremental Cash Reserve Ratio in a phased manner by October 7 also boosted sentiments. Also, positive domestic markets and softening of crude oil prices at higher levels also supported the Indian rupee. The US dollar gained on Thursday as weekly unemployment claims fell below forecast, raising rate hike concerns. Weaker than expected Chinese trade balance data also supported the greenback, analysts added.

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“We expect Rupee to trade with a slight positive bias on positive domestic equities and intervention by the RBI. However, overall strong dollar and elevated crude oil prices may cap the upside. Traders may take caution ahead of US CPI inflation next week, which is expected to remain higher. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 82.40 to Rs 83.50,” said Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Asian currencies were trading higher. Thai Baht rose 0.36 percent, Philippines peso rose 0.27 percent, South Korean won and Singapore dollar rose 0.15 percent each. However, Taiwan dollar and China renminbi were trading lower 0.1 percent each.

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The dollar index, which measures the US currency’s strength against major currencies, was trading at 104.99, down 0.06 percent from its previous close of 105.06.

(with Bloomberg inputs)