MUMBAI: The Indian Rupee appreciated 19 paise to close at 82.51 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amidst surging crude prices in the international market.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened strong at 82.67 and touched an intra-day high of 82.47 and a low of 82.72 against the greenback.It finally settled at 82.51, up 19 paise over its previous close of 82.70.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the repo rate by 25 basis points today. The central bank projected India’s economic growth at 6.4 per cent for 2023-24, broadly in line with the estimate of the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament last week.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.38 per cent to 103.03.Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 1.31 per cent to USD 84.79 per barrel.

Gold jumped Rs 335 to Rs 57,463 per 10 gram in the national capital. Silver climbed Rs 516 to Rs 68,075 per kilogram.