The Indian rupee was steady on Friday, as capital inflows from foreign investors helped cushion dollar buying by oil refiners and companies, traders said. The partially convertible rupee ended at 40.455/46 per dollar, up from an intraday low of 40.55, but little changed from the previous close of 40.45/46.
"Towards the close, there was relief the central bank did not step in. This encouraged a few banks to go short on the dollar," a trader at a state-run bank said.
The central bank said that this week it had bought $11.43 billion in intervention in July - the month the rupee hit a nine-year high of 40.20 against the dollar. It has bought $38.1 billion in intervention in the first seven months of this year.
Refiners were buying dollars as crude stayed near $80 per barrel. Oil is India's biggest import, and high prices raise the risk of widening the country's trade deficit. Traders said capital inflows helped the Indian unit. Foreigners have bought $845 million of local shares in September, taking their net purchases this year to more than $9.2 billion.
Comments
Comments are closed.