Indian rupee appreciated against the U.S. dollar on Thursday amid India-UK free trade agreement. Traders took note of report that Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that the proposed trade pact between India and the UK is likely to benefit labour-intensive sectors such as textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, marine and engineering goods. Besides, India’s flash PMI data showed that operating conditions across India's private sector continued to improve in the month of July. Indian manufacturers led the way, recording faster rates of expansion than services for all of the three metrics i.e. total sales, export orders and output levels. The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI index rose from 58.4 in June to 59.2 in July, its highest reading in close to 17-and-a-half years and indicative of a robust improvement in the health of the manufacturing industry. On the global front, antipodean currencies such as the Australia and the New Zealand dollars strengthened against their major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, after reports emerged that the U.S. and EU are edging closer to a trade deal.

Finally, the rupee ended at 86.40 (Provisional), appreciated by 1 paisa from its previous close of 86.41 on Wednesday. The currency touched a high and low of 86.43 and 86.24 respectively.