The Indian rupee gave up early gains on Thursday as the dollar strengthened against the yen, and demand for the US currency from refiners offset a second successive day of rise for local shares. The partially convertible rupee ended at 45.62/63 per dollar, off the day's peak of 45.43 and weaker than Wednesday's 45.6050/6150.
It hit a low of 45.67 during trade. On Monday, the rupee had risen to 45.2850, its strongest since September 22, 2008. "The dollar's strength against the yen sent importers and oil companies into a spree to buy more and more dollars," said a senior dealer with a foreign bank.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts was at 45.63/67, slightly weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month contracts on the National Stock Exchange and MCX-SX were quoting at 45.6550 and 45.6575 respectively.