The Indian rupee opened higher at 70.09 per US dollar with gain of 16 paise in Friday's trade versus previous closing of 70.25.

In the earlier session, rupee was dragged to 70.25 against the US currency at closing time amid surge in crude oil price which moved past $75 per barrel for the first time in 2019 in the international markets. Also, sustained sell-off in the domestic stock markets led to the fall in rupee.

The gains in dollar against its major crosses to its highest level since June'17 put further pressure on the rupee.

As per brokerage firm Motilal Oswal, rupee is expected to trade in the range of 70.05-69.80 and 70.60-70.80.

Meanwhile, benchmark indices opened firm with Nifty opening around 11,700, while Sensex gained 108.56 points to trade at 38839.42.

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