MUMBAI: The rupee declined 13 paise to settle at 95.43 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking a sharp rise in global crude oil prices amid geopolitical uncertainties.

However, recent foreign capital inflows provided some support to the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.38 against the US dollar and traded in a very narrow range of 95.37-95.45. Eventually it settled at 95.43 (provisional), down 13 paise from its previous close.

The rupee declined 13 paise to settle at 95.30 against the US dollar on Monday.

"The rupee declined on a surge in crude oil prices and rising US Treasury yields. Uncertainty over the deal between the US and Iran also weighed on the rupee," Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias. However, any intervention by the RBI may support the rupee at lower levels. Traders may remain cautious ahead of US inflation data this week," he said, adding that the USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in the range of Rs 95.15-95.80.

Fitch Ratings on Tuesday affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a stable outlook, saying the domestic economy remains strong despite headwinds from the energy shock arising from the West Asia crisis.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.86, up 0.06 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 2.45 per cent to USD 89.87 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 388.19 points to settle at 78,154.25, and the Nifty fell 112.10 points to 24,471.70.

Foreign institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 1,974.76 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.