Mumbai, Oct 18 (PTI) The Indian rupee was down 4 paise at 71.20 per US dollar in opening deals on Friday due to increased demand for the greenback from importers.

After opening on a flat note, the rupee lost some ground as the morning trade progressed.

However, easing crude oil prices and lower US currency against its key rivals rendered some support to the Indian currency, forex dealers said.

Global benchmark Brent crude oil futures was down 0.47 per cent at USD 59.57 per barrel.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, slipped 0.01 per cent to 97.60.

The rupee had logged 27 paise gains on Thursday.

In a positive sign for domestic market, foreign investors bought equities worth Rs 1,158.63 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed.

On the equities front, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading 92.73 points higher at 39,144.79 and the NSE Nifty was up 23.60 points at 11,609.95 in early trade.

Asian stocks were also higher tracking positive sentiments after the UK and the European Union struck a long-awaited Brexit deal. PTI

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