Rupee above 60/dollar, first time in eight months

Mumbai: The rupee rose above 60 to the dollar on Friday, marking its strongest in eight months, as hopes for continued foreign investor inflows send domestic shares to a string of record highs.

The partially convertible rupee was trading at 60.04/05 per dollar , after earlier hitting 59.99, its strongest since July 30. The rupee closed at 60.31/32 on Thursday.

The BSE Sensex rose 0.4 percent, hitting its fifth consecutive record high earlier in the morning after overseas investors bought domestic shares worth $364 million on Thursday. This also considered the  total inflows of 2014 to more than $3.5 billion.

However, further gains in the rupee on Friday could be capped given traders expect good dollar demand from importers to meet month-end commitments. RBI is also expected to continue to buying the US currency to build up its foreign exchange reserves.