After gaining ground in the past week, the Indian rupee on Thursday opened slightly lower at 61.66 per US dollar.

On January 7, the domestic currency slipped to hit a low of 62.27 per US dollar. But then it gradually regained strength and closed nearly 1.2 per cent higher at 61.54 per US dollar on Wednesday.

The economic stats released during the past week were mixed. Trade data showed a slowdown in exports, which widened the country's trade deficit from $9.22 billion in November to $10.14 billion in December.

Industrial output slipped for the second month in a row by 2.1 per cent in November. The data added some pressure on the domestic currency.

However, easing inflation data provided some support to the rupee. The consumer price index (CPI) inflation slipped from 11.16 per cent in November to 9.87 per cent in December. The wholesale price index (WPI) eased from
7.52 per cent in November to 6.16 per cent in December.

At 9.09am today, the rupee was trading at 61.64 per US dollar, down 0.16 per cent from its yesterday's close; while the thirty-share BSE Sensex was trading 0.36 per cent up at 21,366.91 points.