The rupee stepped back from a one-week high hit in the previous session and opened lower against the greenback on Friday, hurt by a spike in global crude oil prices.

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At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 69.74 a dollar, down 30 paise from its Thursday’s close of 69.44. The home currency opened at 69.78 and touched a high and a low of 69.70 and 69.77 a dollar, respectively.

In the currency market, the dollar traded weak after the US Federal Reserve signalled it was ready to lower interest rates to combat global growth slowdown.

The Fed on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged as widely expected but said the case for lower rates was building, suggesting it could ease monetary policy as early as next month as it took stock of rising trade tensions and growing concerns about weak inflation.

The dollar traded at 107.30 yen, slightly above a five-month low of 107.20 yen reached Thursday.

In commodity markets, oil prices rose, with Brent crude heading for its first weekly gain in five weeks on tensions in the Middle East.

Brent crude was up 39 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $64.84 a barrel by 0034 GMT.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pulled out Rs 438 crore from capital markets on a net basis Thursday, provisional data showed.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.65 percent to 6.84 percent from its previous close of 6.79 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.