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Rupee steady in range-bound market; Rs 42.68/69

Range-bound trading marked the scenario at the interbank foreign exchange market, as the rupee ended nearly steady against the greenback here today.

The rupee opened at its Friday's close at Rs 42.67/69 and shot up to a day's high of Rs 42.70/72 in a volatile morning session. The demand rose till mid-morning, as the shadow of political uncertainty loomed large over the market.

But then, State Bank of India entered the market and sold heavily to calm down the rising demand for dollars. The range-bound selling of SBI helped steady the rupee which ended marginally steady at Rs 42.68/69 registering a slight fall of one paise from its Friday's close.

The cash-spot dollar was traded at 1.00-1.25 paise premium while the cash-tomorrow was traded at 0.25 paise level. The call money which started off at 8.25 per cent eventually eased to end at 8.0 per cent level.

The six-month and one-year annualised premia were quoted at 7.0 and 7.45 per cent respectively. The Reserve Bank of India fixed its reference rate at Rs 42.70 per dollar.

The forwards also drifted marginally around their last close and were quoted at 8.5-9.5 for April, 31-33 for May, 55-57 for June, 79-81 for July, 106-108 for August, 134-136 for September, 163-165 for October, 193-195 for November, 223-225 for December, 253-255 for January, 278-280 for February, 306-308 for March.

In the overseas market, quiet and range-bound trading was witnessed as nearly all the major currencies including the euro, the pound strling and the yen strengthened against the dollar.

In the cross-currency segment, the rupee closed at Rs 46.34 against euro, 0.34 paise lower than its previous close. It did no better against yen and pound sterling as well and closed lower Rs 35.62 and Rs 68.94 respectively.

UNI

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