The rupee wiped off its losses and was trading strong at 68.23 as the dollar eased from a 9-1/2 month high against the yen, with investors cautious ahead of a looming US jobs report that could set the market’s tone in coming days.
The Indian currency opened marginally higher by 5 paise at 68.29 against Thursday’s level of 68.34 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.
It hovered in the range of 68.38 to 68.21 during the afternoon deals, before quoting at 68.23 per dollar, up 11 paise at 4.45 pm local time.
The greenback was poised to end lower against a basket of currencies this week during which it gave up some of its recent robust gains.
The dollar index sagged 0.2 per cent to 100.86, and was down 0.6 per cent for the week.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 329.26 points or 1.24 per cent at 26,230.66. The benchmark ended 0.33 per cent lower for the week.