The rupee appreciated 4 paise to 74.67 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, despite a weak trend in domestic equity markets.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened slightly strong at 74.68 against the dollar and gained some further ground to quote 74.67 in the morning session, registering a rise of 4 paise over its previous close. In the previous session, the rupee had settled at 74.71 against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, surged 0.05 per cent at 92.45.