MUMBAI, Feb 8: The Indian rupee fell to a near two-week low on Friday, with sentiment hurt by losses in Indian equities, though dollar sales by exporters capped the local unit’s decline, dealers said.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 39.625/635 per dollar, not far from a two-week low of 39.685 hit on Feb. 6. It ended at 39.535/545 on Thursday.

Given that stocks have been negative for the past couple of days ... people are cautious about putting their money into stocks, said Pradeep Khanna, head of currency trading at HSBC in Mumbai.

An announcement on Friday that a large share offering had been postponed further dampened investor sentiment, he added.

India’s benchmark share index ended a seesaw session 0.35 per cent lower, with investors wary of uncertainty in global equity markets, while two firms withdrew their initial public offers (IPO) due to volatility.

Property developer Emaar MGF Land, which aimed to raise up to $1.64 billion, said on Friday it had postponed its share sale after a weak response.

Emaar became the second Indian firm in 24 hours to withdraw its IPO. On Thursday, healthcare services provider Wockhardt Hospitals shelved its share sale after it received subscriptions for only one fifth of the 25.1 million share offering.

The rupee received support from exporters who cashed in their dollar holdings when the local unit hit 39.65, Khanna said.

Exporter selling has graduated to a higher and higher level, he said, indicating that exporters may look to sell their dollar holdings at higher levels than they have recently.—Reuters