The rupee weakened against the dollar during day trade to levels last seen in December, but dollar selling by exporters helped it to recover on Friday. There was no sign of intervention by the Reserve Bank of India, said dealers.

The rupee opened at 52.14 and weakened to 52.20 in early trade. But it recovered towards end of trade and closed at 52.08. On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 52.15/16. According to a forex dealer with a public sector bank there was a lot of dollar demand from oil companies, but no commensurate inflows.

“Even though inflows have not dried up completely, they are waning as FIIs have concerns over the Government's stance with regard to policy,” he said. The rupee is weak in the non-deliverable forwards market too. The difference between the one-month forward and the one-month NDF is about 20-25 paise.

The gains by the euro against the dollar in the overseas market also helped the rupee. Next week, too, the rupee could remain under pressure as oil companies would continue to buy dollars to meet their month-end demand, the dealer said.

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