The Indian rupee strengthened on Friday as a weaker dollar overseas prompted banks to cut long positions in the US unit, while gains in the share market triggered hopes for capital inflows. The partially convertible rupee closed at 48.67/68 per dollar, 0.4 percent stronger than Thursday's close of 48.85/86. The rupee ended flat on the week.
"There was no (dollar) demand from the oil companies today as they covered quite a bit in the previous session, and since stocks also rose, there was no other demand, helping the rupee's rally," the chief dealer with a state-run bank said.