Rupee rises against dollar

The rupee on Friday breached the 44-dollar barrier and ended sharply higher at 43.87/88 per dollar, driven up by sustained heavy FII inflows into the buoyant stock market amid a sliding dollar overseas. The rupee recovered by another 15 paise from Thursday’s closing levels of 44.02/04 per dollar following a strong start at 43.96/98 per dollar due to the US currency’s tumble against major global rivals, mainly the euro, dealers said.

Taking Thursday’s 12 paise rally, the rupee has recouped 27 paise following its plunge by over 45 paise in the first three sessions of the week to near nine-month lows of 44.14/15 on Wednesday.