Indian rupee opens at 61.41 per dollar, slips 24 paise

The Indian rupee opened lower by 24 paise at 61.41 per dollar on Friday as against previous day's closing value of 61.17 a dollar.

Pramit Brahmbhatt of Alpari India expects the rupee to trade weak following Asian shares slipping to a 3-week low as tension over Ukraine ahead of a weekend referendum forced investors to get rid of riskier assets.

He feels equities are also expected to open low which will further weaken the rupee to open near 61.50/USD levels in futures. According to him, the trading range for the spot dollar-rupee pair is expected to be between 60.50-61.80/USD.

Safe haven currencies like the Swiss Franc and yen got off to a flying start this morning, having surged overnight as tensions in Ukraine flared up and worries about the health of the Chinese economy continued to fester.

The euro was further undermined by comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who said the strength of the currency was increasingly relevant to the bank's assessment of price stability as it was having a negative impact on inflation.

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