The rupee on Friday opened a tad lower at 68.42 per dollar versus its previous closing of 68.45 as traders turn cautious ahead of the important retail inflation and factory output numbers due to be released later today. At 9:37 am, the rupee quoted at 68.51 against the greenback, down 6 paise.

Yield on the 10-year bond hardened to 6.528% in comparison to previous day's closing of 6.493% as traders in the bond market also await the crucial retail inflation number that will provide a hint on the RBI's next step.

Other Asian currencies also trade higher amid weakening of the dollar after a higher than expected US inflation data could not douse the hopes of interest rate cut move by the Federal Reserve later in the month.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of dollar against a basket of major currencies, was at 96.946, down 0.11% from its previous close of 97.05.

Meanwhile, Nifty in the opening trade recovered to 11,600 points, while Sensex rose 69.59 points to 38,892.70.

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