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Rupee hovers at Rs 42.40 vs $ in listless trading

The Indian rupee moved in a narrow range against the American greenback in an extremely dull and direction less trading at the interbank foreign exchange market today.

The rupee opened at Rs 42.39/40, slightly higher from the previous close of Rs 42.40/41 and remained stagnant at the opening level for quiet some time. The Indian unit quoted at Rs 42.3950/4000 as soon as State Bank of India entered the market. It hovered around that level throughout the day, dealers said.

They further said that like the previous week, SBI was seen supporting the dollar. Although there were no purchases made by SBI today, the market player saw the rupee stagnant at the Rs 42.40 level.

Cash-spot business was done at 1.00-1.25 paise premium. Cash-tomorrow conducted at 0.50-0.75 paise premium.

The six-month annualised premia came down to 6.90 per cent from Friday's level of 7.09 per cent. The yearly premia was quoted at 7.35 per cent.

The monthly forward premia in paise were quoted at March 4-5, April 28.30, May 51.54, June 76-78, July 101-103, August 126-128, September 151-154, October 178-181, November 208-211, December 37-240, January 265-268 and February 290-293.

Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 42.39 against the previous fix of Rs 42.40.

The market also witnessed quiet trading in the overseas section. Holiday in Japan also restricted business volume, dealers said.

The rupee appreciated against all the three major currencies, euro, pound sterling and Japense yen during the trading.

The Indian currency closed at Rs 46.11 against the euro from the previous close of Rs 46.39; similarly, it ended higher at Rs 68.93 against the British pound as against Friday's close of Rs 68.99. The rupee finished at Rs 36.06 against the Japanese yen as against last week's close of Rs 36.20 (per 100 yen).

>UNI

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