The rupee opened lower against the US dollar on Friday, as traders held off on making big bets ahead of the Union Budget due later today.

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Market participants are keenly awaiting the Union Budget, to be unveiled at 11am, which will give further cues in terms of policy measures, analysts said.

At 09:10 AM, the rupee was trading at 68.59 a dollar, down 9 paise from its Thursday’s close of 68.50. The home currency opened at 68.58 and touched a high and a low of 68.55 and 68.59 a dollar, respectively.

In the currency market, the dollar was flat against the yen ahead of the closely-watched US non-farm jobs report later in the day.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood little changed 96.754, having spent the previous day in a tight range as the US financial markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.

Investors are focused on US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday, which economists expect to have risen by 160,000 in June, compared with 75,000 in May.

In commodity markets, oil prices edged lower on concerns over the outlook for global economic growth.

Front-month Brent crude futures were down 0.1 percent at $63.23 per barrel, after closing down 0.8 percent on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 28.95 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data.

In debt markets, the yields on the 10-year government bonds were up 0.13 percent to 6.76 percent from its previous close of 6.75 percent. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

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First Published:Jul 5, 2019 9:11 AM IST