The Indian rupee weakened against the U.S. dollar in the afternoon deals on Friday, ahead of a key U.S. jobs report that could strengthen the case for more aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Overnight data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity grew steadily in August and the number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance unexpectedly dropped last week, supporting expectations that the Fed will maintain its aggressive rate-hike stance.
A dollar gauge hovered near a record high and the two-year Treasury yield firmed to the highest level since 2007 following the data.
The Indian rupee declined to a 3-day low of 79.83 against the greenback from Thursday's close of 79.69. On the downside, 80.00 is possibly seen as the next support level.
