On Thursday the Indian strengthened a bit, as traders cited sales by exporters but strong gains were not expected amid the holiday lull and risk aversion in broader markets.
The price was 82.78 per day, up to 82.75 at 10: 05 a.m. IST. The currency was trading at 82.8575 on Wednesday.
A foreign exchange trader said that holding their dollars is likely to make sales as it is the end of the quarter, but due to the absence of a large number of market participants, the moves would remain rangebound.
The trader said that the currency's intraday range should be 82.70 -- 82.90.
The move confined to small ranges per session has kept the pressure on the weaker side of 82.50 for the past two weeks. After a sharp depreciation earlier this month, analysts believe it is an attempt to bring stability to the currency.
State-owned banks have offered around 82.85 -- 82.90 levels over the period, which some traders reckon were on behalf of the Reserve Bank of India, keeping the rupee from falling past 83 per dollar. It hit a new record low of 83.29 in October.
The dollar index went up to 104.360 and the weakness in Asian markets fell as currencies and equities fell, and the gains on Thursday were limited by the dollar index moving higher to 104.360.
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