The Indian rupee strengthened by 18 paise to 72.42 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday tracking positive domestic equities.

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Mumbai:

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 72.46 against the dollar, then inched higher to 72.42, registering a gain of 18 paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 72.60 against the US dollar.

Most Asian currencies have started flat to marginally stronger against the US dollar this Friday, Reliance Securities said in a research note.

Traders will track the Reserve Bank of India's reserves data that will be released after market hours.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.09 per cent to 90.04.

"The US dollar index has started on a marginally stronger note this morning in Asian trade as investors await inflation data due tonight," the Reliance Securities'' note said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.46 per cent to USD 69.78 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 294.61 points or 0.58 per cent higher at 51,409.83, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 99.25 points or 0.65 per cent to 15,437.10.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 660.90 crore, as per exchange data.