The Rupee opened weak, with a deteriorating risk appetite adding to headwinds from rising crude ?oil prices. The currency is on a four-session losing streak, during which it has slipped past levels that many market participants had ?expected to provide significant resistance. The currency now sits less than 0.5% ?away from its record low of 96.96 per U.S. dollar, hit ?in May. While the Reserve Bank of India has been intervening almost daily in ?both the spot and non-deliverable forward markets to support the currency, traders said the ?scale of intervention has been relatively measured considering the intensity of the pressure on the rupee. The currency has come under pressure despite a turnaround in portfolio flows, particularly on the equity ?side. Foreign investors have purchased about $1.5 billion worth of Indian equities so far ?this month, marking a major reversal from the more than $5 billion of outflows recorded in June. Asian equities ?fell and ?U.S. equity futures extended losses, while Brent crude hovered near $85 a barrel after rallying about 12% this week due to escalating hostilities in the Middle East. The United States ?and Iran ?have stepped up attacks across the Gulf region, ?with the collapse of their ceasefire raising concerns about disruptions to oil flows through the Strait of ?Hormuz, a critical artery for crude supplies. The yen may weaken to 170 per dollar and beyond before fruits of the government's stimulus plan engineer a reversal, said RSM US chief economist Joe ?Brusuelas. The yen's slide to a near 40-year low traces back to policy decisions ?years ago to flood markets with liquidity and have the Bank of Japan absorb bond issuance rather than accept higher unemployment, Brusuelas said in an interview in Tokyo. Rate hikes by the BOJ won't be enough to halt the yen's slide, Brusuelas said. China's slowing economy is forcing it to focus more on exports, meaning the BOJ can't push rates much above 1.5% over the ?next six to nine ?months without risking "cutting the ?legs out" from the Japanese government's own economic goals. The BOJ will need to factor those constraints into its own signalling around the pace and ?timing of further rate hikes. Oil prices rose on Friday after the U.S. and Iran stepped up ?attacks across the Gulf, with their broken truce limiting oil flows out of the ?Strait of Hormuz and with Tehran asking the Houthi political and military organisation to stand ready to shut the Red Sea export route. Brent crude futures rose 70 cents, or about 0.83%, to $84.93 a barrel at 0312 GMT, while U.S. West ?Texas Intermediate futures rose 81 cents, or 1.03%, to $79.76 a barrel, erasing losses from the ?previous session.......