The rupee ended almost flat at 61.54 against the dollar amid demand-supply match due to capital inflows and dollar demand from oil importers.
The domestic unit opened weaker by 14 paise at 61.68 per dollar against the previous close of 61.55 on the back of demand for dollars from oil importers. The unit declined to 61.71 in early trades.
However, it recovered to 61.51 during the day on the back of stable capital inflows and weakness in the American currency.
Further, BSE-benchmark Sensex ended a tad weaker at 21,265.18 points, down 24.31 points (0.11 per cent) at the day’s close.
“After witnessing gains in the last few sessions, the rupee was seen weakening slightly as the US dollar index strengthened taking cues from the better-than-expected retail sales data,” said Abhishek Goenka, Founder and CEO, India Forex Advisors.
Intra-day, the rupee moved in the narrow range of 20 paise at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.
Call rates rise, bond yields dip
The inter-bank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow short-term money from each other, ended higher at 8.80 per cent against the previous close of 8.55 per cent.
Yield on the benchmark 8.83 per cent government bond, maturing in 2023, softened to 8.61 per cent from the previous close of 8.64 per cent. Prices ended higher at Rs 101.38 from Wednesday’s close of Rs 101.23.