The Indian rupee ended marginally weaker on Friday hurt by the euro's further fall against the dollar, but domestic share gains helped the local unit to bounce back from a near six-week low touched in early trade. The partially convertible rupee closed at 44.7850/7950 per dollar, after touching 44.90 in early trade - a level last seen on March 28. It had closed at 44.76/77 a dollar on Thursday.
"It is completely tracking the euro. The euro is weaker today, that is why the rupee opened weak. Our stock market has been trading in the positive. That has helped the rupee to gain some strength," said Utsav Kumar Das, forex dealer at Allahabad Bank. The one-month onshore forward premium was at 26 points versus 25.50 points at its previous close. The three-month was steady at 78 points and the one-year was at 299.25 points compared with 305 points. The one-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 45.08, weaker than the onshore spot rate.
In the currency futures market, the most traded near-month dollar-rupee contracts on the National Stock Exchange, the MCX-SX and the United Stock Exchange were at 45.00, 44.99, and 44.98, respectively, with total volume at $9.51 billion.