The Rupee opened weak, with traders eyeing a move toward 90 per U.S. dollar in the absence of firm central bank intervention, while bond yields will track liquidity movements and local growth data. A bout of portfolio outflows, uncertainty over a U.S.-India trade deal, and a pullback in the central bank's defense of a key level sparked the slide in the rupee. The move "caught the market on the wrong side" and the pressure is expected to persist next week, a trader at a large private bank said. The rupee has declined 4.5% over 2025, consistently lagging its regional peers this year, even as India's economic fundamentals remain resilient and the stock market hovers near all-time peaks. A hit to trade and portfolio flows, sparked by U.S. tariffs, has exerted pressure on the rupee, traders and analysts said, noting that the conclusion of a trade deal could help the currency rebound. The dollar index gained last week, even as markets reloaded wagers that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates next month after dovish remarks from New York Fed President John Williams. In India, the 10-year benchmark 6.33% 2035 bond yield settled at 6.5665% on Friday. Traders expect the yield to stay between 6.52% and 6.60% this week, with the focus on the Reserve Bank of India's liquidity moves as well as growth data. The RBI net bought bonds worth 148.10 billion rupees ($1.65 billion) in the week ended November 14, after purchasing bonds worth 124.70 billion rupees in the previous week, its first such buy in almost six months. However, the purchases were frontloaded, leading to market speculation that the buying was just replacement demand instead of a yield signal. Meanwhile, the RBI's monetary policy decision is due on December 5 amid uncertainty over whether the central bank will cut rates or maintain the status quo. The dollar was steady and traders wary on Monday as intervention risks swirled around the yen, with the gilt market on edge ahead of a British budget in a holiday-interrupted week where a New Zealand policy meeting is also expected to deliver a rate cut. A holiday in Tokyo lightened trade in Asia and left the yen drifting lower at 156.71 per dollar in the early morning. Japan's currency has been sliding on a combination of its low interest rate and looser fiscal policies, but it bounced from 10-month lows late last week when Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama ramped up verbal warnings of official yen buying. Elsewhere the euro was held in check at $1.1506, without much of a boost despite a resurgence in wagers on a U.S. rate cut in December. That followed New York Fed President John Williams saying there is room to lower rates in the near term. The dollar index was steady at 100.25 and other majors were held fairly close to recent lows. Sterling traded at $1.3093 ahead of Wednesday's budget announcement, where finance minister Rachel Reeves seeks to tread a path between spending to support faltering growth, while showing the market Britain can meet its fiscal targets. The New Zealand dollar was clinging on at $0.5608, having slid nearly 8% since July on a souring economic outlook. The Australian dollar was at $0.6453, with traders looking ahead to Wednesday's CPI reading, which will be the first full release of monthly price data. A Reuters poll showed weighted annual CPI is expected to be sticky at 3.6%. Oil prices slipped Monday, extending losses from last week, as Russia-Ukraine peace talks edged closer to a solution and the U.S. dollar strengthened. Brent crude futures fell 14 cents, or 0.22%, to $62.42 per barrel at 0148 GMT. West Texas Intermediate was down 15 cents, or 0.26%, at $57.91 a barrel.......