The rupee advanced by 33 paise against the dollar to close at 71.68 on Thursday, a day after the release of strong macroeconomic data. The rupee rose by as much as 50 paise to touch 71.51 against the dollar during the session. However, it shed some of those advances by the end of the session, to settle with a gain of 0.5 against the previous close of 72.01. Steady crude oil prices after easing of trade tensions between the US and China also helped the currency rise against the dollar, say analysts.