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Rupee gains a tad amid thin volumes; Rs 42.74 vs $

Rupee inched up by one paise against the greenback and ended at Rs 42.73/74, amid thinly traded volumes at the interbank foreign exchange market today.

Opening nearly steady at Rs 42.73/74, the rupee moved in a very narrow range, with just half-paisa movement on both sides. The market witnessed moderate activity but demand and supply of dollar was matching, keeping the rupee in a tight range, dealers said.

Rupee ended at Rs 42.73/74 as against Rs 42.74/7450 of the previous day, gaining by about one paise.

Activity in the forward market was also very nominal. Forward premia which opened a bit higher, later eased on good receiving.

Near forwards remained steady while far-forwards droped by 1-2 paise. The six-month and yearly annualised premia closed nearly steady at 5.97 per cent and 6.85 per cent respectively.

Premium on cash/spot and cash/tomorrow finished slightly higher at 2.75-3.00 paise and 2.00-2.50 paise respectively as the call rates ruled relatively higher levels.

The month-wise premia in paise were: May 10-11, June 30-31, July 50-51, August 71-72, September 93-95, October 117-119, November 142-144, December 169-171, January 198-201, February 224-227, March 252-255 and April 278-281.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 42.75 as against Rs 42.73 of the previous day.

In the cross currency market, rupee strengthened a bit against pound sterling and euro while it remained nearly steady against Japanese yen. Sterling ended at Rs 69.74 (69.89), euro at Rs 46.06 (46.17) and yen at 35.37 (35.38).

In the domestic money market, the call rates opened at 9-10 per cent, ruled in the range of 8-11 per cent level during the day before closing at 8.50-9.00 per cent. Despite reporting Friday, the money amrket witnessed hectic activity, leaving the call rates well above the repo rates.

In the overseas markets, the US dollar opened lower in Tokyo after US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday that the current US jobless rate could not continue without leading to inflation. The euro was trading at 129.82 yen, down slightly from 130.00 yen late Thursday in Tokyo.

UNI

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