The Rupee opened stronger on Friday ahead of the central bank's policy outcome, aided by possible one-off dollar sales that helped offset a risk-off backdrop. The continued advance came despite challenging external cues. Most Asian currencies weakened, while risk appetite was fragile and foreign investors returned to selling Indian equities on Thursday, typically conditions that would weigh on the rupee. The focus is on the Reserve Bank of India's policy outcome due shortly. Economists expect the central bank to keep rates on hold. Indian equities extended Thursday’s pullback, with the Nifty 50 Index down about 0.3%. The rally sparked by the U.S.–India trade deal has now been pared to around 1%. Foreign investors, who had poured money into local shares on Tuesday following the deal, resumed selling on Thursday, with preliminary data showing outflows of about $200 million. The decline in Indian equities mirrored weakness across Asian markets, which followed a selloff in U.S. stocks amid concerns over the mounting costs of the artificial-intelligence boom. The U.S. dollar lingered near a two-week high on Friday, poised for its strongest weekly performance since November as a rout in stocks driven by AI-spending concerns rattled investors, while the yen firmed ahead of a national election on Sunday. The dollar has strengthened since President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve Chair last week as markets expect him not to push a lot for rate cuts, easing some worries about central bank independence. The risk aversion has helped the dollar despite U.S. Treasury yields sliding after economic data pointed to a weaker-than-expected jobs market ahead of next week's highly anticipated payrolls report for January. The dollar index , which measures the U.S. currency against six other units, was at 97.961, hovering near the highest since January 23. The index is set for a 1% increase for the week, its steepest rise since the middle of November. The yen strengthened to 156.74 ahead of a national election over the weekend where a victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi could be on the cards. The yen has languished at a near 18-month low against the dollar, prompting Japanese policymakers to repeatedly threaten action - code for intervention in markets - to defend the frail currency. The euro was at $1.1784 after the European Central Bank left interest rates on hold as expected on Thursday and played down the impact of dollar moves on its future decisions. Sterling was nursing steep losses and stood at $1.3520 after sliding nearly 1% in the previous session. U.S. crude futures extended their decline on Friday, on track for their first weekly drop in weeks, as concerns about supply disruption in the Middle East eased with investors focusing on the outcome of U.S.-Iran nuclear talks in Oman later in the day. Brent crude futures dropped 50 cents, or 0.74%, to $67.05 a barrel at 0102 GMT after settling 2.75% lower in the previous session.......