The rupee ended steady on Friday as dollar inflows were offset by losses in domestic shares and a weak euro, but US jobs data due later this evening was eyed for further cues. The partially convertible rupee closed at 45.5950/6050 per dollar, little changed from Thursday's close of 45.60/61, after touching an intraday low of 45.70.
"In the market there was some amount of inflows that aided the rupee. Otherwise, it could have declined further," said Rohan Naik, head of foreign exchange trading at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai. One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.78, weaker than the onshore spot rate, indicating a bearish outlook for the rupee.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange and the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were at 45.7500, 45.7500 and 45.7575, respectively, with the total traded volume at $4.12 billion.