The Rupee opened weak on Friday, tracking muted moves in regional currencies, with traders expecting the currency to remain rangebound around the 90 handle heading into year-end. Asia's worst-performing currency has consolidated in a 89.44-89.84 band this week after being shored up from record low levels by the central bank's intervention last week. Traders reckon that while the overall bias for the rupee remains steady depreciation, it should hold above all-time lows at least in the near term. Unless the underlying picture on merchant or portfolio flows shifts, the rise above 90 is unlikely to stick on for long, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. In the near-term, corporate hedging and price-action signals from the non-deliverable forwards market remain key for the rupee, the trader added. Both traders and analysts concur that a breakthrough in U.S.-India trade negotiations remains key to turning its fortunes around. In the absence of a trade agreement between New Delhi and Washington, weakness in foreign investment flows is likely to remain a drag on the rupee. Oil prices climbed on Friday after the U.S. ordered increased economic pressure on Venezuelan oil shipments and carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of Nigeria's government. Brent crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.4%, to $62.48 per barrel by 0114 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 23 cents, also 0.4%, at $58.58. Gold prices surged to a record high in early Asian trading on Friday, buoyed by safe-haven demand and rising expectations of further interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $4,501.44 per ounce by 0209 GMT, after touching a record peak of $4,530.60 earlier in the session.......