The Indian rupee weakened by 56 paise to 86.08 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, pressured by a surge in global crude oil prices and a stronger dollar, as tensions escalated in the Middle East following a fresh Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
According to forex traders, a weak start in domestic equity markets and sustained foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows further weighed on the local currency.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened lower at 86.25 per dollar and later recovered slightly to 86.08, marking a sharp decline from its previous close of 85.52 on Thursday.