The Indian rupee depreciated by 16 paise to 74.68 against the U.S. dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the negative domestic equity market and a firm American dollar.
Further, unabated foreign fund outflows weighed on investor sentiment, traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened on a weak note at 74.60, then lost further ground and touched 74.68 against the American dollar, registering a decline of 16 paise from the last close.
On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 74.52 against the U.S. dollar.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, fell by 0.05% to 96.72.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 2.26% to $80.36 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,300.65 crore, as per exchange data.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 1201.47 points or 2.04 % lower at 57,593.62, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 360.90 points or 2.06% to 17,175.35.
