Rupee posts first weekly fall in three; gains on day on corporate dollar sales

By Swati Bhat

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee gained on Friday on dollar sales by a large corporate, but that was not enough to prevent its first weekly fall in three as markets reeled on disappointment over the lack of specifics in the budget.

Concerns about the banking sector in Portugal also contributed to the declines, with the BSE Sensex posting its biggest weekly loss since December 2011.

The new government on Thursday unveiled a first budget that seeks to revive growth and curb borrowing, but left open questions on how it will reduce the fiscal deficit and restore investor confidence.

"We will have to continue to watch the developments in the euro zone for the outlook next week as the budget is now out of the way," said Vikas Babu Chittiprolu, a senior foreign exchange trader with state-run Andhra Bank.

"The pair should trade in a 59.70 to 60.50 range next week."

The partially convertible rupee ended at 59.93/94 per dollar compared with 60.19/20 on Thursday, boosted largely by dollar sales from a large corporate.

Still, the rupee fell 0.3 percent for the week, snapping two weeks of gains.

Traders said they will also look out for the consumer price inflation data and the wholesale price data due to be released on Monday for direction.

In the offshore non-deliverable forwards, the one-month contract was at 60.31, while the three-month was at 60.84.

(Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)