Rupee ends lower at 74.90 per dollar

Indian rupee ended lower at 74.90 per dollar, amid selling seen in the domestic equity market.

It opened flat at 74.85 per dollar against previous close of 74.84 and traded in the range of 74.74-74.92.

At 14:10 IST, the Sensex was down 387.17 points or 1.01% at 37923.32, and the Nifty was down 110.20 points or 0.98% at 11190.30.

Oil prices advanced on Friday and were heading for a second week of gains amid growing confidence that demand for fuel is starting to pick up despite the coronavirus pandemic that has slammed economies worldwide.

Rupee ended little changed Thursday as overseas inflows related to HDFC and ICICI Bank's Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP) offset dollar buying by nationalized banks likely on behalf of oil importers. Rupee looks stable in range of 74.60-75.25 in coming session," said Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst (Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

Gold prices rose for a third straight session on Friday, supported by a weaker US dollar, with investors awaiting the release of Chinese economic data due later in the day.