COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan rupee edged up to a more than four-month high on Tuesday due to higher dollar inflows from inward remittances and as bank sales outpaced importer dollar demand amid no intervention from the central bank, dealers said.
The spot rupee was at 130.50/55 per dollar at 0646 GMT, its highest intraday level since Nov. 7 and stronger than its last close of 130.55/57. The currency has gained 0.4 percent in the last nine sessions through Tuesday, Thomson Reuters data showed.
"There was weak importer demand," said a currency dealer, adding that the Indian rupee is also strengthening.
A central bank official told Reuters there was no need to intervene in the market on Tuesday due to lack of volatility.
The rupee has been on a rising trend since Feb. 27 amid weak demand for dollars from importers, dealers said.
Economists and dealers have said the rupee has unexpectedly appreciated in the last two weeks despite its historic tendency of falling in March and April due to festive import demand.
The market, however, expects downward pressure due to high imports for the traditional new year in mid-April and outflows from equities, though the depreciation is expected to be mild as the central bank has strong reserves to defend the rupee.
Foreign investors sold a net 5.36 billion rupees worth of stocks in 21 straight sessions through Monday, and sold a net 4.57 billion rupees worth of government securities for the week ended March 5.
The rupee has gained about 3.6 percent since it hit a record low of 135.20 on Aug. 28 last year. It lost 2.5 percent in 2013. At 0650 GMT, Sri Lanka's main stock index was down 0.28 percent, or 16.89 points, at 5,940.72.
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