Indian rupee closed unchanged on Friday at 66.55 to the US dollar after opening at 66.56. The domestic currency hit an intraday high of 66.56 and low of 66.62. The currency ended the week with losses as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers of Indian equities for most part of the week, except on Tuesday and Friday.
The demand for the greenback during the day was sustained on fresh demand for the US currency from importers and banks, according to currency dealers.
On Friday, FIIs were net buyers of Indian equities worth Rs. 27.71 crore, according to provisional data released by the National Stock Exchange. The previous day they were net sellers to the tune of about Rs. 30.83 crore.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed with a loss of 34 points at 25,228, while the NSE Nifty ended almost flat at 7,733.
The major Sensex losers included Dr Reddy's Labs, Wipro, Adani Ports and ONGC, while stocks that lifted the benchmark index included GAIL (India), BHEL, Asian Paints and State Bank of India.
The biggest gainer of the day among all stocks was non-banking finance company IDFC that ended at Rs. 46.80, up 11.69 percent from its previous close. Other stocks that gained substantially included private sector lender Karnataka Bank, FMCG company Emami and cement maker Birla Corporation.
Among sectoral indices on the NSE, IT, pharma and metal ended in the red.
