Indian rupee weakened against the U.S. dollar on Friday as escalating tensions in West Asia fired up the global energy prices with Brent crude oil prices trading near $106 a barrel. Further, the article on 'State of the Economy' published in the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) April bulletin has alleviated concerns surrounding the West Asia conflict. The article said that ongoing conflict in West Asia and supply chain disruptions could pose challenges to the domestic economy in the form of higher energy costs, input cost pressures, disruption in trade flows and spillovers in financial markets. On the global front, the British pound has weakened against the dollar on Friday, to trade near $1.34, amid rising expectations that the Bank of England may raise interest rates in the near term.

Finally, the rupee ended at 94.21 (Provisional), weakened by 20 paise from its previous close of 94.01 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 94.31 and 94.18 respectively.