Mumbai, February 20 The rupee depreciated by 27 paise to 90.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, weighed down by a strong American currency and higher crude oil prices due to escalated geopolitical tensions.
A surge in selling of domestic equities further put pressure on the Indian currency, forex traders said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.94 and further declined to trade at 90.95 against the US dollar in the initial deals, losing 27 paise from its previous closing level.
The rupee rose by 4 paise to settle at 90.68 against the US dollar on Wednesday. The currency exchange markets were closed on Thursday due to Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 97.89.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.14 per cent higher at USD 71.77 per barrel in futures trade.
Analysts attributed the strengthening dollar and crude prices to heightened tensions between the US and Iran, with both countries signaling that they are prepared for war if talks on Iran's nuclear programme fail.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex fell by 150.35 points to 82,347.79 in early trade, while the Nifty declined by 35.15 points to 25,419.20.
On Thursday, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 880.49 crore, according to exchange data.
