The Indian rupee hit a near two-month high on Friday supported by a strong euro and robust dollar inflows which helped offset the impact of weak local shares, and traders expect further gains in the euro to underpin the local unit next week. The partially convertible rupee ended at 44.5825/5925 per dollar, after touching a high of 44.5175, its strongest since May 4. It had closed at 44.695/705 on Thursday.
"Exporters selling dollar pushed the rupee up. The flows were good, so weak shares had limited impact on the rupee," said Vikas Chittiprolu, a senior forex dealer with Andhra Bank. The one-month onshore forward premium was steady at 24.50 points, the three-month was at 75 points from 74.50 at previous close, and the one-year was at 254.50 points from 253.50 at previous close.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 44.72, weaker than the onshore spot rate. In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange was at 44.77, while those on the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were both at 44.7750. The total volume was at $9.72 billion.