Indian rupee settled higher against dollar on last trading day of the week as fresh foreign fund inflows and positive domestic equities supported investor sentiments. Sentiments got boost after activity in India's dominant services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 12 years in February on strong demand as price pressures eased further amid mild job rises & capacity pressures in the country. Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran expressed hope that the GDP growth for the current financial year will exceed the projected 7 per cent in view of the expected revision of high frequency data. On the global front, U.S. dollar eased from a 2-1/2-month high versus the yen on Friday and looked set for its first weekly loss since January against major peers as traders tried to gauge the path for Federal Reserve policy.
Finally, the rupee ended at 81.97 (Provisional), stronger by 63 paise from its previous close of 82.60 on Thursday. The currency touched a high and low of 82.35 and 81.92 respectively.
