Rupee appreciates

Dollar inflows outweighed importer demand which saw the rupee gain some ground against the greenback on Wednesday (18).

"The rupee opened trading at Rs. 133.82-87 against the dollar. Demand from a state name somewhat cushioned the slide of the US dollar due to heavy selling from a foreign name and the rupee closed higher at 133.50-55 from its opening level. The highest and the lowest trade for the day were at 133.85 and 133.45 respectively," the Sri Lanka Forex Association said.

"The success of the US$ 1 billion sovereign bond issue helped determine sentiments to a certain extent. We saw a lot of inflows, mostly from exporters. Import demand has been lower than usual over the past few days. If this trend continues, we could see the rupee appreciate against the dollar, but there is a question mark over the extent of importer demand," a currency dealer said.