The Indian rupee surrendered early gains to end steady on Monday as state-run banks, which usually intervene for the central bank, drained the market of dollars.
The rupee closed at 43.8900/9000 per dollar, sliding off an intra-day peak of 43.7900 hit in the morning, and slightly below Friday's 43.8850/8950.
It had climbed in the morning on the back of Saturday's robust exports data, which showed unexpectedly high growth of more than 17 percent for the year to March 2004, well above the government's target of 12 percent.
Weakness in the dollar in the global market, as traders re-considered the timing of a US interest rate hike, also drove the rupee higher.
There were some exporter dollar sales, but they were rapidly absorbed, he said. The central bank has stepped up its intervention in recent days, after letting go in the second half of March, when inflows surged on account of foreign investments towards a government stake sale.
Armed, from this month, with market stabilisation bonds to offset additions to rupee liquidity from its interventions, the central bank has helped pull the rupee down from its 51-month closing high of 43.5450/5500 recorded on April 7.
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