COMMENTARY
INTERVIEWS
SPECIALS
CHAT
ARCHIVES

Rupee continues fall; down four paise, Rs 42.55/56

The rupee's fall continued unabated on month-end demand from banks, who bought US dollars on behalf of corporate and importer clients at the interbank foreign exchange market today.

The rupee opened at the previous closing levels of Rs 42.51/53. It sunk to Rs 42.53/54 on demand by some banks including SBI. Buying by SBI was nominal in the afternoon, but the rupee further plummeted, closing at Rs 42.55/56, shedding four paise.

''Banks, which had taken positions were busy closing them. This contributed to the rupee's fall,'' informed a dealer.

The forwards, too, came under pressure on a booking rush by banks' clients. The monthly premia (in paise) were 17-20 for December, 42-45 for January, 67-70 for February, 99-102 for March, 131-134 for April, 163-166 for May and 196-199 for June. The six-month annualised premia closed at 7.86 per cent.

Cash/spot ended at 1.5-2.00 paise, cash/tomorrow at 1-1.25 paise and tomorrow/spot at 0.25-0.50 paise.

In international markets, the US dollar rose against the yen on interbank buying in an otherwise quiet trading. The dollar bought 122.46 yen in late morning trading, up 0.54 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and also higher than its late London level of 122.25 yen overnight.

US financial markets were closed on Thursday for the thanksgiving holiday.

Back home, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate at Rs 42.52 per dollar as against the previous Rs 42.48.

The pound sterling closed at Rs 70.47, deutsche mark at Rs 25.02 and Japanese yen at Rs 34.75 against the rupee.

UNI

Business news