The Rupee closed weaker as a surge in oil prices after Israel’s strike on Iran sent the Indian rupee tumbling on Friday, prompting the central bank to step in and limit further losses, traders said. The attack sparked a wave of risk aversion across markets. Asian currencies and equities dropped, U.S. equity futures fell, while safe havens rose. Brent crude surged by as much as 11% at one point. In response, the rupee slipped to 86.20 per dollar, its weakest level in two months. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) likely intervened to curb volatility and support the currency. A trader told Reuters the central bank likely sold U.S. dollars via state-run banks, stabilising the rupee around the 86.05 level. The RBI typically leans against sharp moves in the spot market, especially those driven by external shocks, traders noted. The rupee was last quoted at 86.12. Higher oil prices are a significant negative for India, which imports about 80-85% of its crude requirements. A sustained rise in crude worsens the trade and current account deficits, and adds upward pressure on domestic inflation. Additionally, higher oil prices increases dollar demand from refiners. Meanwhile, forward premiums rose across tenors, reflecting the potential impact of higher oil prices on Indian interest rates. The 1-year USD/INR annualised premium rose 6 basis points to 1.92%. The dollar headed for its biggest one-day rise in a month on Friday, as investors rushed back into the currency in their search for safe-haven assets, including gold, after Israel launched strikes against Iran, sparking Iranian retaliation. Initially, the Swiss franc and Japanese yen rallied, before ceding ground to the dollar, which until recently, has always been the ultimate safe-haven in times of geopolitical or financial turmoil. Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar rose by nearly 0.9%, as losses mounted for the euro, sterling and the Australian dollar in particular. The dollar index was last up 0.85%, heading for its largest one-day rise since May 12. The euro broke a four-day rally to trade down 0.7% at $1.1494, but still within sight of Thursday's near-four-year high of $1.163225. Against the yen , the dollar rose 0.6% to 144.43, having touched an overnight low of 142.795 before recovering, while against the Swiss franc , it also rose 0.52% to 0.8147 francs. Investors also snapped up U.S. Treasury bonds, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year note down as much as 4.7 basis points at one point to a more-than-one-month low of 4.31%. Gold prices jumped as much as 1.7% to $3,444 an ounce, their strongest since early May. The index is on track for a weekly decline of nearly 1%, its biggest drop in more than three weeks, and is set for losses against the yen, the Swiss franc and the euro. Oil prices jumped over $5 on Friday to multi-month highs after Israel launched strikes against Iran, sparking Iranian retaliation and raising worries about a disruption in Middle East oil supplies. Brent crude futures were up $5.25, or around 7.6%, to $74.61 a barrel at 1215 GMT, after hitting an intraday high of $78.50, the highest since January 27.......