<p>The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 79.76 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.</p>.<p>At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.75 against the US dollar, then fell to 79.76, registering a decline of 12 paise over the last close.</p>.<p>On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 19 paise to close at 79.64 against the US dollar.</p>.<p>The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 107.62.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.37 per cent to $96.23 per barrel.</p>.<p>The rupee opened weaker on Friday after the dollar index reached a 1-month high following comments from US Federal Reserve officials over the quantum of rate hikes, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.</p>.<p>Supports for the USD/INR spot pair are at 79.60 and 79.50 and resistances are at 79.80 and 79.90. A break above the resistances will push the pair to 80.15 levels, Iyer said.</p>.<p>"The rupee could also track the weakness in Asian and emerging market peers led by a fall in the offshore Chinese Yuan," Iyer said, adding that "additionally, strong importers demand for dollars and speculative buying of dollars could also weigh on the domestic unit."</p>.<p>On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 17.07 points or 0.03 per cent higher at 60,315.07, while the broader NSE Nifty was up 15.35 points or 0.09 per cent to 17,971.85.</p>.<p>Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,706.00 crore, as per exchange data.</p>
<p>The rupee depreciated 12 paise to 79.76 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.</p>.<p>At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.75 against the US dollar, then fell to 79.76, registering a decline of 12 paise over the last close.</p>.<p>On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 19 paise to close at 79.64 against the US dollar.</p>.<p>The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 107.62.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.37 per cent to $96.23 per barrel.</p>.<p>The rupee opened weaker on Friday after the dollar index reached a 1-month high following comments from US Federal Reserve officials over the quantum of rate hikes, said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.</p>.<p>Supports for the USD/INR spot pair are at 79.60 and 79.50 and resistances are at 79.80 and 79.90. A break above the resistances will push the pair to 80.15 levels, Iyer said.</p>.<p>"The rupee could also track the weakness in Asian and emerging market peers led by a fall in the offshore Chinese Yuan," Iyer said, adding that "additionally, strong importers demand for dollars and speculative buying of dollars could also weigh on the domestic unit."</p>.<p>On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 17.07 points or 0.03 per cent higher at 60,315.07, while the broader NSE Nifty was up 15.35 points or 0.09 per cent to 17,971.85.</p>.<p>Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,706.00 crore, as per exchange data.</p>