Rupee Edges Lower To 69.60 Against Dollar

The rupee edged lower against the dollar on Friday, amid rising crude oil prices and strength in the dollar overseas. The rupee opened at 69.58 against the greenback and moved to 69.60 in intraday trade, as against its previous close of 69.51. Weakness in the domestic equity markets also put pressure on the rupee in the forex market. The rupee was on course to finish the week on a lower note against the US currency. It was last seen trading at 69.58 against the dollar in late morning deals on Friday.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday after rallying 2.3 per cent in the previous session. Brent futures - the global benchmark for crude oil - rose 0.6 per cent to $61.69 per barrel during the session, after two oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman, one Norwegian-owned and the other Japanese-owned.

The dollar index - which gauges the greenback against six major peers - fell as much as 0.07 per cent during the session. It was last seen trading 0.06 per cent lower at 97.0680.

Domestic stock markets struggled with losses on Friday however the benchmark indexes were on course to finish the week higher. The S&P BSE Sensex index fell as much as 180 points and the NSE Nifty touched the 11,850 mark on the downside, amid selling pressure in banking, pharma and auto stocks. The Sensex was on course to finish lower for a third session in a row.

As of Thursday's closing price, the rupee is up 0.37 per cent against the dollar so far this calendar year.