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Rupee gains 19 paise

The rupee staged a smart rally on dollar selling by a few banks at the Forex market today. Opening at 43.29/30, the rupee found support as the State Bank of India sold heavily in the pre-mid session.

The Indian unit strengthened during the day and ended at 43.13. It had rallied to 43.15 by around 1.30 pm and on lack of demand and adequate supply ended 19 paise higher from 43.32 in the last trading session.

The forward premiums fell by 3-4 paise. The monthly premiums (in paise) ended at 6-7 for June, 22-23 for July, 40-42 for August, 58-60 for September, 78-80 for October, 98-100 for November and 116-118 for December. The six-month annualised premia ended at 5.06 per cent. Cash/spot ended at 0.875-1.00 paise, cash/tom at 0.25-0.50 paise and tom/spot at 0.50-0.75 paise.

Dealers said that news of the Indian Army's capture of key positions in the last two days made marketmen to believe that the Kargil conflict may end soon and aided positive sentiments.

The reference rate fixed by the Reserve Bank of India is Rs 43.19 a dollar from Rs 43.18 in the previous session.

The RBI remained absent in today's trading. The rupee ended at 68.53 against the pound sterling, 44.61 a euro and 35.89 a yen. At the Tokyo market, the dollar stood at 120.53-56 yen, up from 120.33-36 yen at the same time yesterday. The euro was quoted at 1.0410-30 dollars, down from the previous 1.0431-40.

UNI

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