US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a delay in the proposed increase in Chinese import tariffs by 15 days. Analysts said the announcement of enthused investors.

Describing this as a goodwill gesture, Mr Trump said that he had moved the increased tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods from October 1 to October 15.

"At the request of the Vice Premier of China, Liu He, and due to the fact that the People's Republic of China will be celebrating their 70th Anniversary on October 1st, we have agreed, as a gesture of good will, to move the increased Tariffs on 250 Billion Dollars worth of goods (25 per cent to 30 per cent), from October 1 to October 15," Mr Trump tweeted.

Besides, a higher opening in domestic equities and weakness in the US currency overseas supported the rupee.

Domestic equity markets pared early gains in afternoon deals on Thursday amid selling in automobile stocks. The NSE Nifty benchmark moved in a range of 65.95 points, between 11,081.75 and 11,015.80 at the day's strongest and weakest levels respectively.

“Asian currencies are stronger and trading with decent gains against the US dollar,” said IFA Global, a forex advisory firm. It expects the rupee to move in a range of 71.30-71.70 in the near term.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against six currencies, was last seen down 0.01 per cent at 98.63.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital market, putting in Rs 266.89 crore on Wednesday, according to provisional exchange data.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark for crude oil prices, rose 0.72 per cent to trade at $61.25 per barrel.