The Indian rupee strengthened for a second day on Friday, helped by inflows from a foreign investment and gains in the stock market, but dollar demand from oil firms and other importers trimmed its gains. The partially convertible rupee ended at 43.425/435 per dollar, off a high of 43.30 but still 0.2 percent stronger than 43.51/52 at close on Thursday.
It had touched a 17-month low of 43.87 earlier in the week. Dealers said dollar supplies as part of Volvo's $275 million investment in India's Eicher Motors had arrived on Thursday and early Friday, helping the rupee rise. "The rupee is correcting the solid move that happened, it is now coming back to reality and is expected to continue in 43.30-43.60 range," said V. Rajagopal, head of foreign exchange trading at Kotak Mahindra Bank.