Rupee rises sharply, ends at 41.76/77 against USD

Mumbai, Apr 20 (UNI) The rupee rose sharply on Friday at a striking distance of a nine-year high, as traders built short positions in the dollar on expectations of non-intervention of RBI to check the rupee's gains.

The Rupee ended at 41.76/77 per dollar, rising sharply from Thursday's close of 42.07 and within the sight of 41.62, hit earlier this week, which was its highest since May 1998.

''Today's rally was a reaction to the higher-than-expected inflation data with inflation still running high, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is unlikely to intervene against the Rupee,'' the dealer said.

The Rupee is up about 4 per cent this month and is trading 12 per cent above a three-year low of 47.04 hit last July, buoyed by strong capital flows into Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today fixed the reference rate at Rs 41.99 per US dollar, up by six paise from its yesterday's rate of Rs 42.15 per USD, according to a RBI spokesperson here.

UNI