Mumbai: The rupee was trading slightly stronger than 47 per dollar on Friday, and traders said it was caught between the weight of a weaker stock market and support from the dollar coming off its recent highs.
At 10:51 am the partially convertible rupee was at 46.86/865 per dollar, off a low of 46.92 and little changed from Thursday's close of 46.88/89. It had hit 46.97 during trade on Thursday, its lowest since November 27.
"Looks like we will stay in the range of 46.80/95 as the dollar seems likely to stay weak and Indian shares seem to be resistant at current levels," said a senior forex dealer at a state-run bank.
The BSE Sensex was down 0.26 percent, taking cues from weak Asian markets and led by losses in local banks, and on track to post their first weekly fall in three weeks.
The dollar stayed pressured as investors unwound long positions in the approach to the year-end. The index of the dollar against six majors was down 0.26 percent.
The US currency had earlier briefly dropped on since-dismissed rumours of a coup in Pakistan that were sparked by a government minister being barred from leaving the country.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoted at 46.87/97, close to the spot rate.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, December 18, 2009, 12:03