The Indian rupee opened lower against the US dollar on Tuesday as crude oil prices surged in the international markets. Crude has been trading higher for eight out of the last nine sessions and investors are now awaiting the results of the US-China trade talks, that took place yesterday, in American President Donald Trump's speech to be televised later today.

The rupee opened at 69.84 a dollar and later touched a low of 70.01/dollar. Brent crude, the international benchmark of oil prices has risen 14 percent in the last nine sessions, moving closer to $60 a barrel on optimism of a trade deal between the two biggest economies of the world.

On Monday, Washington had sent two of its biggest aides to Beijing to negotiate a trade deal. Trump is expected to be addressing the results on Tuesday during his televised speech about the government shutdown in the US. Traders will be monitoring it closely.

The rupee has fallen 1.3 percent this year and foreign investors have sold $203.80 million in equities while bought $43.50 million in the debt markets. Some major Asian currencies were also seen trading lower today.

The US dollar index, a measure of the greenback against major foreign currencies, was trading at 95.827, lower by 0.17 percent from its previous close of 95.666.