At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened marginally down by 2 paise at 82.81 against the previous close of 82.79.
The local unit moved in a narrow range of 82.82 and 82.77 in morning trade. It was trading flat at 82.79 against the US dollar at 0950 hrs.
The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, dropped 0.10 per cent to 104.33.
Key stock indices sensex and Nifty declined nearly 1 per cent in early trade in line with weak Asian markets. Benchmark sensex tumbled 620.66 points to 60,205.56 while Nifty declined 158.55 points to 17,968.80.
Asian markets declined on Friday after better-than-expected US data fuelled expectations that the US Federal Reserve will keep increasing the interest rates in the New Year. Revised figures showed the US economy grew a lot more in July-September than first thought, while jobless claims were less than expected last week.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the capital markets on Thursday as they bought shares worth Rs 928.63 crore, according to exchange data.