The Indian rupee inched higher on Friday after a company repatriated a loan raised overseas, which helped offset concerns about outflows from the stock market that fell for a third day. The partially convertible rupee shrugged off early volatility to end stronger at 39.73/74 per dollar from its Thursday finish of 39.7725/39.7800.
Last week it had hit 39.27, it's strongest since March 1998. "There was strong two-way action today, with one company propping up the rupee almost single-handedly," said a dealer with a private bank. Dealers said the company sold about $100 million, which helped ease pressure on the rupee at a point where foreign funds were selling the local unit amid weakness in the equity market.
India's main communist party, which props up the ruling coalition, urged the government on Friday to curb foreign fund flows into shares by banning participatory notes, a particular type of investment tool to avoid a market bubble.
The finance minister said in the United States on Thursday that India had no plans to impose controls on capital flows, but a recent surge of funds into the country required some measures to ward off stock market bubbles. The rupee is still up more than 11 percent against the dollar this year, powered by robust overseas investment, a large portion of which has flown into the stock market.
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