The rupee fell 20 paise to an all-time low of 96.90 against the US dollar in early trading on Wednesday, pressured by a strong dollar and rising crude oil prices amid simmering tensions between the US and Iran.According to forex traders, the rupee was also under pressure from the withdrawal of Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and the drop in equities benchmark indexes.At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 96.89 against the US dollar, then plunged further to 96.90, registering a fall of 20 paise from its previous close.Meanwhile, the Sensex gained 117.54 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 75,318.39, while the Nifty advanced 41 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 23,659.00.On the sectoral front, markets witnessed a mixed trend. Buying interest was largely seen in Nifty Oil & Gas, Auto, Realty, and Banking stocks, whereas Nifty Media, IT, and FMCG indices emerged as laggards during the session, as per Bajaj Broking Market Commentary.The broader market also ended on a positive note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index gaining 0.49 per cent, while the Smallcap index closed marginally higher by 0.04 per cent.In terms of Nifty outlook, the index in the daily chart formed a bullish candle with a lower high and lower low highlighting strong pullback after a gap down opening and closed near the day’s high.Furthermore, the index for the third time in the last six sessions has rebounded from near the key support area highlighting buying demand at lower levels.Going ahead, the index may extend the last six sessions consolidation in the range of 23,200-23,900. Only a move above the recent breakdown area of 23,800-23,900, will signal a pause in the overall corrective trend.Index need to start forming higher high and higher low on a sustained basis in the daily chart and a move above the breakdown area of 23,800-23,900 to signal strength.Nifty has key support at 23,200-23,000 levels being the confluence of the lower band of the April 8 bullish gap area and the 61.8 per cent retracement of the previous pullback (22,182-24,601).