Rupee falls to 81.69 vs dollar amid strength in greenback

Rupee ended lower at 81.69 vs dollar on Friday.  Earlier in the session, the currency depreciated to 81.67 vs dollar amid gain in global crude oil prices. Strength in the value of greenback against a basket of six peers also pressured the currency.

The dollar index — which measures the American currency against the yen, the pound, the Canadian dollar, the Swedish krona, the Swiss franc and the euro — was last trading marginally higher at 105.8.

Crude oil prices rose on Friday. Brent crude futures were up 0.3 percent to $85.4 per barrel at the last count. WTI futures were up 0.3 percent at $78.2 per barrel at the last count.

"On the domestic front, USD-INR continued to trade in a tight range of 81.60-81.90 levels for the past few sessions. It is observed that the RBI is suspected to intervene around 81.90 levels, which shows that they want to keep USDINR stable between 80.50-82 levels for now. The overall risk-on sentiment amongst the EM currencies could push the pair towards 81.20 levels. Until the pair remains below the 82.00 mark, selling on the rise is suggested for the near term," said Amit Pabari, Managing Director at CR Forex.

Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 ended the first session of December series with minor gains on Friday.