The rupee recovered its early losses and ended almost unchanged at 53.68 against US dollar on Thursday after RBI hiked the FII investment limit in certain debt instruments by $ 5 billion each and removed lock-in period for overseas investors buying G-Secs for the first time.
The rupee commenced lower at 53.77 a dollar from previous close of 53.67 a dollar and declined further to a low of 53.89 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, following sustained dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners.
Hesitancy in local equities at initial stages and firm dollar overseas also weighed on the rupee.
Later, it bounced back on dollar selling by exporters and continued foreign funds inflow in stocks to an intra-day high of 53.62 before settling at 53.68, a loss of a mere one paisa.
On Wednesday, it had risen by 14 paise or 0.26 per cent.
