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Rupee moves in a narrow range in dull market

• Rs 43.23 vs $
• Rs 43.95 vs euro
• Rs 67.23 vs pound
• Rs 35.55 vs yen (100)

The Indian rupee ruled in a narrow range and ended nearly steady at 43.2250/2350 against the greenback on a dull interbank foreign exchange market today.

The rupee opened a bit higher at Rs 43.21/22, eased slightly to 43.2250/2350 level later in the morning due to some corporate dollar buying. Thereafter, it stablised around that level throughout the day without any fluctuation. It closed at Rs 43.2250/2350, almost unchanged from the previous day's close of Rs 43.23/24.

Dealers said the forex market witnessed good activity during the last two trading sessions when the rupee strengthened by about 17 paise, after positive developments in Kargil. However, it remained dull today.

Importers preferred to wait, expecting further appreciation of the rupee, they added.

Forward market also witnessed neglible activity today and premia ended almost steady. The sixth month and yearly annualised premia closed nearly steady at 4.59 per cent and 5.16 per cent.

Cash/spot premia ended at 0.75-1.00 paise and cash/tomorrow finnished at 0.25-0.50 paise premium. The month-wise premia in paise are: July 6.5-7.5, August 23-24, September 38-39, October 55-56, November 73-74, December 89-91, January 110-111, February 130-131, March 149-151, April 169-171, May 189-192 and June 211-213.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 43.23 as against Rs 43.24 of the previous day.

In the cross-currency, the rupee weakened slightly against pound sterling, euro and Japanese yen. It ended against sterling at Rs 67.23 (67.17), euro at Rs 43.95 (43.80) and yen at Rs 35.55 (35.31).

In the domestic money market, the call rates ruled in the range of 8.25-8.50 per cent level and closed a bit higher at 8.30-8.40 as compared to 8.20-8.30 poer cent of the previous day.

UNI

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