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Trading dull, rupee rock-steady; Rs 42.53/54 vs $

The rupee ruled rock-steady in a dull trading session at the interbank foreign exchange market today.

According to dealers, the US military strikes on Iraq had no impact on trading sentiments in the local market.

The rupee opened at Rs 42.54/55 and appreciated to Rs 42.53 during the day. The Indian unit ended at the opening levels at Rs 42.53/54.

The monthly forwards (in paise) were 3-5 for December, 21-24 for January, 44-47 for February, 73-77 for March, 104-108 for April, 133-139 for May and 165-169 for June. The six-month annualised premia ended at 7.56 per cent.

Cash/spot closed at 1.75-2.00 paise, cash/tomorrow at 1.25-1.50 paise and tomorrow/spot at 0.25-0.50 paise.

At the Tokyo forex market, trading in dollar/yen was mixed. The Japanese yen was quoted higher at 116.58 a dollar early morning, its intra-day high, on a press report that a North Korean submarine was engaging in a shoot-out just off the South Korean coast with the South Korea military. But dollar/yen was soon off its high as active sales from various US names and jJpanese interbank players pushed the pair back to 116.10-20.

Also offering some support for dollar/yen today was a dollar-shortage at the Tokyo retail fixing this morning, with bids from interbank players sending the pair to 116.30-40.

Back home, the rupee ended at Rs 71.56 against the pound sterling, Rs 36.96 against the yen and Rs 25.63 against the deutsche mark.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate at Rs 42.54 a dollar from the previous Rs 42.55.

UNI

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