The Rupee closed weaker on Friday, singed by likely dollar outflows and traders lowering long bets, but posted its best rise in over three years after New Delhi and Washington announced a long-awaited trade deal. The rate decision had little bearing on the rupee, which was hit by outflows, traders said. Strong appetite to buy dollars at the daily reference rate led to weakness earlier in the session. The fall worsened as stop-losses were triggered on long-rupee wagers, a trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. This eroded gains for the week, which were largely powered by a rally on Tuesday after the U.S. and India announced they had reached a trade deal following months of negotiation. While traders and analysts say that the trade breakthrough has lifted the pall over the rupee, a sustainable rally would depend on a bounceback in foreign portfolio inflows. Foreign portfolio investors have net bought about $1 billion of local stocks over February so far after selling a net of $4 billion last month. In global markets, the dollar index was a tad lower at 97.8 while Asian currencies were trading mixed. The pound rose on Friday, recovering some of the previous day's steep slide that followed a surprisingly tight vote from the Bank of England to leave rates unchanged and its signal that it could cut if inflation continues to cool. Sterling rose 0.4% to $1.3581 by mid-morning in London, partially recovering from Thursday's near-1% drop to 10-day lows. The pound strengthened against the euro , which dropped 0.2% to 86.88 pence, after having staged its biggest one-day rally against sterling since last August the previous day. The European Central Bank also met to set interest rates on Thursday, leaving them unchanged. But policymakers indicated they were in no hurry to lower borrowing costs, even as inflation runs below their 2% target. On top of the shifting outlook for interest rates, sterling traders, who are sticking with their view that the BoE will likely cut rates twice this year, are having to contend with a tricky political backdrop this week. Oil prices fell on Friday as investors assessed talks between the United States and Iran that took place in Oman amid fears of another supply-disrupting Middle East conflict. Brent crude futures fell 55 cents, or 0.8%, to $67.00 a barrel by 1410 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was down 60 cents, or 1%, at $62.69 a barrel.......