The Sri Lankan rupee traded slightly up on Wednesday in dull trade as inward remittances outpaced mild importer dollar demand, dealers said.
The spot rupee was at 130.58/62 per dollar at 0749 GMT, edging up from Tuesday’s close of 130.61/65. The currency has risen 0.34 percent in the last five sessions, Thomson Reuters data showed.
The central bank said on Monday it bought a significant amount of dollars to keep the currency steady.
The market expects downward pressure to continue ahead of festival import demand in April and due to equity outflows. However, the depreciation is expected to be mild as the central bank has strong reserves to defend the rupee.
Foreign investors have sold a net 5.43 billion rupees in stocks in 17 straight sessions through Tuesday, but they bought a net 709 million rupees worth of government securities in the week ended Feb. 26.
The rupee has gained about 3.5 percent since it hit a record low of 135.20 on Aug. 28 last year. It lost 2.5 percent in 2013.
At 0806 GMT, Sri Lanka’s main stock index was down 0.06 percent, or 3.52 points, at 5,933.10. (Reuters)
