The Rupee opened sharply higher on Thursday after the Reserve Bank of India rolled out a fresh set of measures to ?clamp down on speculative activity, with traders expecting chunky dollar sales as ?positions are unwound. On ?Wednesday, the RBI announced measures marking a step-up in its efforts to support the currency, barring banks from offering rupee ?non-deliverable forwards to resident and non-resident clients and preventing companies from rebooking cancelled forward contracts. The move to ?curb arbitrage and speculative trading comes at a time when the local currency is already under ?pressure from worries over India's balance of payments amid elevated oil prices and weak capital flows. Rupee had slipped to an all-time low of ?95.23 on Monday even after the central bank moved to limit banks' net open foreign-exchange positions in the onshore markets. The dollar advanced against ?major currencies on Thursday, reversing two days of losses, after U.S. President Donald Trump's address on Iran shattered hopes for a possible ceasefire in the Middle East conflict that has rattled investors and roiled markets. In Trump's national address, the president said conflict ?in Iran would soon be ending but the U.S. military would continue to hit targets ?there over the next two to three weeks. The dollar index , which measures ?the greenback against a basket of currencies, climbed to a high of 99.925 after the ?speech. It last traded up 0.3% at 99.861. The greenback has benefited from a rush to safe-haven assets since the conflict ?began in late February. Expectations that a ceasefire could be near have reversed some of the markets' most popular trades earlier this week and put the greenback on a two-day decline. The euro stood at $1.1554 and the sterling fetched $1.3254 , both down roughly 0.3% versus the dollar after the speech to give up some recent gains. The risk-sensitive Australian ?dollar and the New ?Zealand dollar were ?both down roughly 0.6%, trading at $0.68865 and $0.5719, respectively. The Japanese yen traded weaker at 159.25 , but it was still away from the psychologically important 160 level that is ?viewed as the line in the sand for intervention by Japanese authorities. Oil prices climbed more than $4 on Thursday after President ?Donald Trump said the United States would continue ?to attack Iran, including energy and oil targets over the next few weeks, and did not commit to a specific timeline to ?end the war. Brent crude futures rose $4.88, or 4.8%, ?to $106.04 per barrel by 0200 GMT. U.S. West Texas ?Intermediate crude futures were up $4.17, or 4.2%, to $104.29 per ?barrel.......