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Thursday October 1, 11:20 AM
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Rupee rises to near 2-mth high on weak dlr
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee rose to its highest in nearly two months on Thursday, supported by surging foreign portfolio inflows and the dollar's weakness overseas.
At 10:54 a.m. (0524 GMT), the partially convertible rupee was at 47.80/81 per dollar, its highest since Aug. 10, and stronger than Tuesday's close of 48.10/11.
The market was closed on Wednesday for fiscal half-year book closing.
"It's essentially a weak dollar which is propping up the rupee," a senior trader with a foreign bank said, adding he expected the rupee to trade in range of 48.80 and 48.95.
The dollar was on the defensive on Thursday, having resumed its downward trend in the previous session as investors shifted funds out of the U.S. unit and chased growth-linked currencies.
Indian shares seesawed after opening stronger, but shares in Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO : 300 +2.05
) rallied after the mobile operator's talks on a planned tie-up with South Africa's MTN collapsed.
News of the deal being called off had little impact on the rupee, dealers said.
The main share index had surged past 17,000 points on Wednesday for the first time since mid-2008, rising 1.6 percent in its best rise in three weeks.
Foreigners have bought $3.8 billion of stocks during Sept. 1-29, taking the total inflow to more than $12 billion in 2009. The inflow has been a main driver for the rupee, which has rebounded from a record low of 52.2 against the dollar in early March.
One-month offshore non-deliverable forward contracts were quoting at 47.82/92, close to the onshore spot rate.
(Reporting by Anurag Joshi; Editing by Ranjit Gangadharan)
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