Rupee ends steady; trade data has little impact

By Gaurav Pai

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee ended unchanged on Wednesday as the dollar strength overseas and greenback buying by state run banks were offset by gains in local shares.

The rupee also did not move significantly after data showed India's exports in June rose 10.22 percent from a year earlier, as overall analysts called the numbers mixed.

"Any major reaction to the trade deficit data was not expected as the numbers were positive on certain fronts and negative on some others. The rupee will continue to trade in a narrow range until new cues come in," said Paresh Nayar, head of FX and fixed income at FirstRand Bank.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 60.12/13 per dollar, unchanged from the Tuesday closing.

The rupee continued to be weighed down by dollar demand from state-run banks for oil-and defence-related payments and by gains of the U.S. currency overseas following a comment by Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen that U.S. rates could rise sooner if employment continued to improve.

But that was offset by a more than 1 percent gain in the 50-share Nifty on Wednesday as lenders and infrastructure-related shares surged after the central bank exempted long-term bonds raised for the sector from reserve requirements.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 60.31/41, while the three-month was at 60.82/92.

(Editing by Anand Basu)