The rupee ended 8 paise lower at 72.43 against the US currency on Thursday as month-end dollar demand and higher crude oil prices brought the domestic unit under pressure.

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At the interbank forex market, the Indian rupee opened at 72.35 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 72.34 and a low of 72.53.

It finally ended at 72.43 against the American currency, registering a fall of 8 paise over its previous closing price. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.45 per cent to 89.77.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.42 per cent to USD 67.32 per barrel. The Indian rupee depreciated against the US currency weighed down by importers' month-end dollar demand, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

"Today's depreciation came despite the fall in the dollar index which fell to its lowest since early January 2021 this Thursday afternoon after dovish signals from the US Federal Reserve," Iyer added. The weakness could also be attributed to consistently higher crude oil prices and surging US Treasury yields, he said.

On the domestic equity market front, the BSE Sensex ended 257.62 points or 0.51 per cent higher at 51,039.31, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 115.35 points or 0.77 per cent to 15,097.35. Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market and purchased shares worth Rs 28,739.17 crore on a net basis on Wednesday, according to exchange data.