The Rupee closed slightly weaker on Thursday as outflows and dollar demand spurred by persistent hedging from importers eclipsed the positive impulse from a broadly weaker dollar. Portfolio outflows from local stocks and persistent dollar demand from local companies have become sore points for the South Asian currency, increasing its reliance on central bank interventions to hold above its all-time low of 88.80 per dollar. Foreign investors have net sold over $850 million of Indian stocks in November so far. Foreign portfolio investors' ownership in companies listed on India's National Stock Exchange has declined to just under 17%, the lowest in over 15 years, per a note from the exchange on Thursday. Meanwhile, the dollar index fell 0.2% to 99.1, its lowest level in nearly two weeks, after U.S. President Donald Trump approved a deal to reopen the U.S. government, removing a major source of uncertainty. The U.S. dollar dipped on Thursday on improving risk appetite after the U.S. federal government reopened from a 43-day shutdown, while a recent bounce caused by falling expectations of interest rate cuts continued to fade. The U.S. government is due to lumber back to life on Thursday after its longest ever shutdown snarled air traffic, cut food assistance to low-income Americans and forced more than 1 million workers to go unpaid for more than a month. Traders are now waiting on an avalanche of data that was delayed from the government shutdown to offer new clues on the health of the economy and Fed interest rate policy.The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.26% to 99.22, with the euro up 0.28% at $1.1624, the highest since October 30. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 0.23% to 154.43. The greenback reached a nine-month high against the Japanese currency on Wednesday after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed her administration's preference for interest rates to stay low and asked for close coordination with the Bank of Japan. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama also gave a new verbal warning on yen weakness as it approached 155 per dollar, noting "one-sided and rapid movements in the foreign exchange market". The yen on Thursday reached its lowest against the euro since 1999, when the single currency was introduced. A weak yen could force the BOJ's hand, leading to a rate hike next month, though traders only see a 22% chance of a quarter-point increase to the key rate in December. The Australian dollar, meanwhile, hit a two-week high thanks to official data that showed a steeper drop in the unemployment rate from a recent four-year high, reducing the possibility of further rate cuts. Oil prices ticked up on Thursday after easing nearly 4% in the previous session as investors weighed concerns about global oversupply with looming sanctions against Russia's Lukoil. Brent crude futures rose 42 cents, or 0.67%, to $63.13 a barrel by 12:28 p.m. ET (1728 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 37 cents, or 0.63%, to $58.86 a barrel, after a decline of 4.2% on Wednesday.......