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Rupee recovers on CTBT rumours; up three paise, Rs 42.51/52

After yesterday's slide, the indian unit opened steady at Rs 42.54/55 against the previous close. The rupee hovered in the narrow range of Rs 42.5400/5525 in the morning in a range bound trading. After 12:30 pm, the market witnessed selling pressure as corporates sold dollars, strengthening the rupee against dollar. The Indian unit finally closed at Rs 42.51/52. A leading dealer said that the major market player State Bank of India stayed away from the business.

The forex dealers also attributed the rupee recovery to the rumours that India is likely to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The forward dollar also declined today.

In the swaps, cash-to-spot business was done higher at 1.50-2.00 paise premium. Cash-tomorrow was steady at 0.25-0.50 paise premium. The half-yearly premia and annual premia were closed lower at 8.35 and 8.80 per cent respectively.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate at Rs 42.53 per US dollar against the previous fix of Rs 42.54.

The monthly forward premium in percentage came down considerably. The premiums have been quoted thus: for the first month 7.29 (7.70), for third month 7.67 (8.25) and for sixth month 8.35 (8.69).

The premium in paise also eased at 0.25-1.00 for September, 25-30 October, 52-55 November, 79-83 December, 109-113 January, 140-144 February, 172-176 March, 206-211 April, 239-244 May, 272-277 June, 306-311 July and 340-344 August paise premium.

In the overseas, dollar slightly strengthened against pound sterling while it weakened against deutsche mark and Japanese yen. In the cross currency section, rupee closed at 71.56 against a British pound, at Rs 25.25 for a deutsche mark and Rs 31.03 against Japanese yen.

UNI