The Indian rupee snapped an eight-session winning streak on Thursday, slumping 44 paise to close at 94.82 (provisional) against the US dollar, weighed down by a negative trend in domestic equity markets and surging crude oil prices, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via The Sen Times

The currency endured a volatile session, swinging from its strongest level in over six weeks before closing down 0.4 per cent at 94.8175 per dollar, Reuters reported via The Hindu BusinessLine. Chunky foreign inflows linked to Jio Platforms' IPO and the Reserve Bank of India's defensive measures had boosted the rupee earlier in the day, but the gains faded as oil prices climbed in the latter half.

Source: Reuters via The Hindu BusinessLine

Forex analysts cited by PTI said the rupee traded on a flat-to-lower trajectory due to sluggish domestic equities and surging crude, while the escalation of attacks by Yemeni Houthis on Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure deteriorated global market sentiment. A softening dollar index and a decline in US Treasury yields cushioned the downside, they said.

Traders pointed to broad-based dollar demand locally alongside broader signs of a risk-off move in global markets, Reuters said. Brent crude climbed to its highest since May on deepening worries about conflict in West Asia, which also hammered global equities.

For India, which imports most of its crude, sustained high oil prices raise the import bill and add to inflation pressure — the same backdrop the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee cited this month when it raised the repo rate and signalled that rate cuts are off the table in the near term.