Rupee opens on flat note against US dollar in early trade

Mumbai: The rupee opened on a flat note against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday as caution set in amid worries about escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee witnessed range-bound trade as it opened at 75.03 against the US dollar, saw an early high of 75.02 and a low of 75.05 against its previous close of 75.06.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.01 per cent to 95.80.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell by 0.54 per cent to USD 92.47 per barrel.

"Crude oil prices were weak this Friday morning and could lend support. However, possible escalation of tension in Eastern Europe could cap appreciation bias," said Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities.

Markets could remain range-bound ahead of the weekly expiry, Iyer said.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share Sensex was trading 16.34 points or 0.03 per cent higher at 57,908.35, while the broader NSE Nifty slipped 6.30 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 17,298.30.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,242.10 crore, as per stock exchange data.