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Last-minute $-demand pushes rupee down two paise; Rs 42.74/75

The rupee weakened by two paise against the greenback on last-minute dollar demand, at a fairly active interbank foreign exchange market today.

The Indian unit opened nearly steady at Rs 42.72/73, and hovered around that level with half paise movement on both sides till afternoon, with matching dollar demand and supply.

However, due to fresh dollar demand by some banks at the fag end, the rupee eased a bit and closed lower at Rs 42.74/75, as against Rs 42.7225/7250 of the previous day's closing, losing its value by two paise.

Forward premia, which opened lower, later firmed up towards close due to some paying pressure. Near forwards remained nearly steady while far forwards ended 2-3 paise lower. The six-month and yearly annualised premia ended at 5.85 per cent (5.84) and 6.63 per cent (6.67 per cent).

Cash/spot premium finished at 1.00-1.25 paise while cash/tomorrow ended at 0.50-0.75 paise. The month-wise premium in paise were: May 9-10, June 28-30, July 49-50, August 69-71, September 90-92, October 113-116, November 136-139, December 163-165, January 191-193, February 216-218, March 243-245 and April 268-270.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate for US dollar one paise lower at Rs 42.72 as against Rs 42.73 of the previous day.

In the cross currency, the rupee strengthened slightly against pound sterling and Japanese yen while it eased a bit against euro. Sterling ended at Rs 69.34 (69.51), yen at Rs 35.26 (35.37) and euro at Rs 45.95 (45.87).

In the domestic money market, the rates opened higher at 9.00-9.25 per cent, ruled between 8.90-9.30 per cent level during the day and closed at 9.00-9.10 per cent, a bit higher from its previous day's closing of 8.90-9.00 per cent.

In the Tokyo market, the dollar bought 120.88 yen in late afternoon trading, up 0.02 yen from late Monday in Tokyo and also above its late New York level of 120.50 yen overnight. The euro was traded at 130.28 yen, up from 129.38 yen late Monday in Tokyo.

UNI

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