Rupee ends firmer, exporters sell dollar

Reuters: The rupee ended firmer on Wednesday as dollar selling by exporters surpassed mild demand for the greenback from importers, dealers said.

The spot rupee ended at 152.70/85 per dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 153.10/20.

“Lack of dollar demand helped appreciation,” said a currency dealer requesting anonymity,

“A foreign bank, which bought (dollars) over the last few days to service takeovers, was not seen active today,” The dealer added, referring to last week’s big ticket equity deals in the market.

Last week, diversified conglomerate Hayleys Plc said it purchased 61.73% of Singer Sri Lanka Plc for Rs. 10.9 billion ($ 71.27 million) from Retail Holdings (Sri Lanka) BV a subsidiary of Retail Holdings.

The rupee has been under pressure since January after the Central Bank stopped defending the currency and started buying dollars to build up the country’s depleted foreign currency reserves.

The island nation saw Rs. 17.7 billion ($ 115.99 million) of net inflows into equities up to Wednesday’s close, and Rs. 9.4 billion worth of inflows into government securities as of 13 September, official data showed.