MUMBAI, Jan 17 Reuters Indian importers last week took advantage of the rupee39;s recovery against the dollar to hedge their future foreign currency obligations, data showed.

Average dollar purchases by importers, beyond the spot date, rose to 1.64 billion last week from 1.14 billion the week before, latest data collated by The Clearing Corporation of India Ltd CCIL revealed.

The CCIL publishes daily forward trades by clients with a two day lag on its website.

The rupee had jumped 1.7 against the dollar in the week ended Jan. 13, its best performance in two months, thanks to benign U.S. inflation print. The data reinforced expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will opt for a smaller interest rate increase on Feb. 1 and that it was near to halting its ratehiking cycle.

The outlook on the rupee remains challenging and the dip on USDINR was a good opportunity, so volumes returned after the quiet first week of the year, a foreign exchange sales head at a private bank, who did not want to be named because he is not allowed to speak to media, said.

The rupee39;s outlook has been hurt by India39;s high trade deficit and weak portfolio flows. Trade deficit, which has cooled from a record of near 30 billion in July, remains high by historical standards.

India on Monday reported December merchandise trade deficit of 23.76. Meanwhile, foreign investors have taken out about 2 billion from Indian equities and debt so far this month.

Despite the better Fed outlook, the…