MUMBAI: The Indian rupee recouped opening losses to end higher on Friday, despite weakness across regional peers, helped by possible intervention from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and dollar sales from foreign banks.
The rupee ended at 83.4700 to the US dollar, up from 83.5375 in the previous session.
The currency dropped to a record low of 83.5750 in early trading, but the RBI likely intervened in the onshore over-the-counter market and in non-deliverable forwards to curb further fall, traders said.
For the week, the rupee logged a second consecutive weekly decline, falling about 0.1%.
Most Asian currencies dropped, with the Korean won leading the losses, on reports that Israel attacked Iran in the latest tit-for-tat exchange between the two adversaries.
Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.
US equity futures and Asian shares plunged, leading investors towards the safe-haven dollar.
The dollar index was above 106.
“It seems like there are no green shoots for the rupee, but if geopolitical risks fade in the coming weeks, we may see the rupee trading in a range of 83.20 to 83.80 albeit with a negative bias,” Arnob Biswas, head of foreign exchange research at SMC Global Securities said.
Economists at HDFC Bank said in a note that a move towards 83.70 on the rupee is “coming in sight”.
Investors are also watching out for cues on US interest rates.
The hawkish tone of Federal Reserve officials has prompted investors to dial back interest rate cut expectations for this year.
Core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, due next week, will be watched for cues on the policy path.
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