The Indian rupee strengthened on Friday as strong gains in local shares buoyed hopes for fresh capital inflows, while the dollar's slide against other major currencies overseas helped sentiment. The partially convertible rupee closed at 48.78/80 per dollar, 0.5 percent stronger than Thursday's close of 49.03/04.
Over the week, though, it lost 1 percent as stocks dropped 0.9 percent, its fourth dip in seven weeks. "There was good two-way interest in the market today - oil companies were buying dollars while exporters were there to sell, holding the rupee in a range," a senior dealer at a foreign bank said. "The rupee is likely to stay like this for some time now. It may trade in a 48.40 to 49.10 range next week," he added. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were at 48.97/49.07, weaker than the onshore spot rate.