Rupee likely to be firm on FIIs inflow, rising forex reserves

Mumbai, Mar 5 (UNI) The rupee continued to be guided by the US dollar's performance in the international market and the foreign fund inflow in the local market.

The rupee ended higher on Friday at Rs 44.32/33 per dollar as compared to last week's close of 44.43/44.

The bull run in the equity markets seemed to be halting somewhat with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index dipping by 31 points on Friday, which could signal a slow down in foreign fund inflows.

However, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to be bullish on India with a total investment of Rs 1,423.50 crore in the last three trading sessions and Rs 645 crore flowed in on Thursday, which will boost rupee on Monday, according to SEBI data.

Foreign exchange reserves (Forex) went up for the sixth week in a row by US 350 million dollars to USD 141.590 billion for the week ended on February 24, which was another indication of rupee firming up next week.

However, the crude oil prices could play a spoilsport, as they were once again inched up to 63.65 per barrel at New York Mercantile Exchange.

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