| "In the last half-an-hour, suddenly these nationalised banks started buying. They started at 39.72 and dragged the rupee to 39.83 towards end of the trade," said a dealer at an UK bank. |
| The Indian unit ended at Rs 39.83 to a dollar, compared with Rs 39.71 on Thursday. It had touched an intraday high of 39.68 to a dollar. |
| Market witnessed volatility in thin trade ahead of the half-yearly closing of accounts of banks on Saturday. "Today, the market was rock steady for most part of the trade. Volume was thin because most banks were not active due to half-yearly closing," said a dealer at a private bank. |
| However, oil companies bought dollars to meet their month-end needs. A large state-owned oil company was among major dollar buyers at 39.70-39.73, dealers said. |
| The rupee continued to be supported by foreign institutional investors actively investing in local stocks. FII investments in equities have picked up after the recent US rate cut, leading the rupee to rise over 2 per cent in just 10 days. |
| According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India, foreign funds have invested $3.76 billion during September 1-26, after pulling out investments to the tune of $1.74 billion in August. |
| In September, there was heavy dollar buying by the RBI to halt the rupee's rise. Over the last few days, the RBI is believed to have bought over $3 billion. Today, large exporters sold dollars at almost all levels on view that the rupee will appreciate on the back of large FII dollar inflows. |
| "Exporters were selling to meet their receivables. It seems that they are coming into terms with the changing situation (rupee rise)," said a dealer at a private bank. The rupee was unmoved to the Balance of Payments data released by the RBI today. |
| According to the RBI, export growth in April-June was at 17.8 per cent from 23.7 per cent a year ago, while the trade deficit widened to $21 billion from $17 billion. |
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