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Quiet trading keeps rupee firm; up two paise, Rs 42.28/29

The rupee ended two paise higher against the greenback in a quiet trading session at the interbank foreign exchange market today.

Opening steady at Rs 42.30/31, the rupee remained in the same range for sometime in the morning with moderate dollar demand and sales. Rupee moved up around noon and rose to the high of the day at Rs 42.28 as the banks started unloading their dollar holdings. The Indian unit closed at Rs 42.2850/2950 against the Rs 42.31/32 the previous day.

Forward premia came down in the absence of paying pressure and moderate receiving. Near forwards eased by about two paise and far forwards came down by about five paise. The 3rd month, 6th month and yearly annualised premia were quoted at 7.10 per cent, 8.05 per cent and 8.52 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India maintained the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 42.30.

The cash/spot business was conducted at 2.50-3.00 paise premium while the cash/tomorrow was done at 1.5-2.00 paise premium. The month-wise premia in paise were: October 1-3, November 21-24, December 46-49, January 76-78, February 103-107, March 135-139, April 168-172, May 200-204, June 232-237 and July 264-269.

In the domestic money market, the call rates after ruling in the range of 9.00-9.20 per cent most part of the day, closed slightly lower at 8.75-9.00 per cent.

In the overseas market, the pound sterling strengthened against US dollar, while the Japanese yen weakened and the deutsche mark remained almost steady. Sterling was quoted at Rs 72.10, DM at Rs 25.86 and yen at Rs 36.07.

UNI