On the back of a drop in crude oil prices, the rupee gains 9 paise to settle at 76.24 against the US dollar. Following a drop in crude oil prices and weakness in the US currency in global markets, the rupee strengthened 9 paise to settle at 76.24 against the US dollar on Friday.

The local currency opened at 76.15 vs the US dollar on the interbank forex market, with an intra-day high of 76.12 and a low of 76.29.  The rupee ended the day at 76.24, up 9 paise from its previous finish of 76.33.

Meanwhile, the dollar index lost 0.16 percent to 98.62, which gauges the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude futures, fell 1.27 percent to USD117.52 a barrel.

Crude oil prices have risen 10 percent so far this week, as European countries consider imposing penalties on Russian oil and gas imports. The majority of US central bankers were unified in their support for strong rate hikes this year to combat the country's surging inflation.

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