In a first after six days, the rupee closed without hitting a fresh all-time closing low. The partially convertible currency closed the day at 63.20, after opening at 64.30 as against Thursday's closing of 64.55. It was after a gloomy forecast for the Indian currency from across the board that some brokerages on Friday took a contrarian view. Crisil today said it expects the rupee to recover from its current level and end the current financial year at 60 against the dollar. Earlier in the day, Barclays said the rupee is seen gaining to 61 in 12 months, while DBS Bank said it sees it at 62-62.50 levels. Given the fact that the rupee has gone from 60 to 65 in a matter of days, and some brokerages beating the drums that the currency is fast hurtling towards 70, others are sticking to the dismal forecast. "The rupee can hit 70 in three months," Macquarie said today. The latest report from Macquarie comes days after Deutsche Bank said that the Indian currency is expected to hit 70.

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