The Indian rupee started on a flat note this Friday against the greenback and inched 4 paise higher to 74.14 against the U.S. dollar in early trade tracking a muted trend in the domestic equity market.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 74.15 against the dollar, then inched higher to 74.14, registering a gain of 4 paise over its previous close. The local unit also witnessed a low of 74.19 in initial deals.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 74.18 against the U.S. dollar.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.16% to $75.68 per barrel.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.05% down at 91.76.
Asian currencies have started flat to marginally stronger against the greenback this Friday morning and could cap weakness, however, firm crude oil prices could cap appreciation bias, Reliance Securities said in a research note.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India will release dollar reserves data after-market hours. Additionally, trade deficit, current account deficit, balance of payments data will also be released after-market hours this Friday.
On the domestic equity market front, BSE Sensex was trading 35.88 points or 0.07% lower at 52,663.12, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 5.70 points or 0.04% to 15,784.75.
Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth ₹2,890.94 crore, as per exchange data.