Indian rupee strengthens

The Indian rupee ended stronger after a choppy session on Friday, riding a late stock market surge and strength in other Asian currencies to post its seventh successive weekly gain. The partially convertible rupee closed at 49.81/82 per dollar, off a high of 49.74 but still, 0.2 percent stronger than its Thursday's close of 49.92/93.
"The rupee was tracking the equity market," said V. Kumar, chief dealer with State Bank of Travancore, adding it ended off its highs as traders who had sold dollars bought them back. "The rupee has tended to show lower volatility after elections than before elections," Goldman Sachs economists Tushar Poddar and Pranjul Bhandari said in a note on Friday. They said a stable government would help boost sentiment on the rupee, and expected it to strengthen over the next 11 months helped by a narrowing trade deficit.