The Sri Lankan rupee closed higher on Thursday as dollar selling by exporters late in the day and inward remittances surpassed demand for the US currency by importer earlier, dealers said. The rupee, which traded at 156.00/10 per dollar earlier in the session, closed at 155.50/70 per dollar, compared with Wednesday's close of 155.60/70.
"There was demand from foreign banks in the morning. But remittances and exporter dollar conversions came (during the) latter part of the day," said a currency dealer. The rupee gained 0.4 percent this week. The markets will be closed for a holiday on Friday. Normal trading will resume on Monday.