The rupee appreciated 6 paise to 79.86 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, driven by foreign fund inflows and a firm trend in domestic equities.

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At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 79.87 against the dollar and inched higher to touch 79.86, registering a gain of 6 paise over its previous close.

In the previous session, the rupee declined by 6 paise to close at 79.92 against the American currency.

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The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, advanced 0.05% to 108.51.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, advanced 0.83% to USD 100.16 per barrel.

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Forex traders said, the rupee is expected to witness range-bound trade this Friday, as investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell‘s speech for further clues about the pace of the US central bank’s rate hikes.

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“Higher oil prices and a weak start in the Asian and emerging market peers could keep appreciating bias capped,” Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities said, adding that markets could remain range bound ahead of the monthly August futures expiry as well.

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In the equity markets, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 471.65 points or 0.80% up at 59,246.37. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty rose 139.50 points or 0.80% to 17,661.95.

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Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net buyers in the capital markets, as they purchased shares worth Rs 369.06 crore on Thursday, according to provisional data.