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Dull market keeps rupee steady; Rs 42.75 vs $

The rupee, after ruling in a very narrow range, ended steady at Rs 42.7450/7550 against the US dollar, in an extremely dull interbank foreign exchange market today.

The rupee opened at Rs 42.7450/7550, hovered around that level throughout the day with just half-a-paisa movement on both sides and ended steady at Rs 42.7450/7550 to the US dollar.

The market remained very dull today with low activity, but the very matching dollar demand and supply kept the rupee in a tight range and steady, dealers said.

Importers covered their urgent day-to-day commitments. They are optimistic about the rupee's stability and do not expect any major movement till the election, in the absence of any major policy decisions and other market-moving factors, dealers said.

Forward premia further eased in the absence of paying pressure and scattered receivings. On an average, the monthly premia eased by 1-2 paise. The six-month and yearly annualised premia closed a bit lower at 5.50 and 6.31 per cent respectively.

Cash/spot and cash/tomorrow premia closed at 1.75-2.25 paise and 1.50-2.00 paise respectively. The month-wise premia in paise were: May 4.5-5.5, June 22-24, July 42-45, August 63-66, September 83-85, October 104-106, November 124-127, December 149-151, January 175-177, February 199-201, March 225-228 and April 249-251.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has revised the reference rate for US dollar by one paisa at Rs 42.76 as against Rs 42.75 of the previous day.

In the cross currency market, the rupee appreciated slightly against pound sterling and the Japanese yen while it eased a bit against the euro.

Sterling ended at Rs 69.04 (69.20), yen at Rs 35.01 (35.20) and euro at Rs 45.60 (45.50).

In the interbank call money market, the call rates opened higher at 9.25-9.50 per cent, further moved up and closed higher at 10.00-10.50 per cent, on good demand for funds and restricted supply.

In Tokyo market, the US dollar rose against the yen on Friday morning trading. The dollar bought 121.88 yen at late morning, up 0.30 yen from late Thursday in Tokyo and also above its late New York level of 121.85 yen overnight. The euro bought 130.18 yen at late morning, up from 129.36 yen late Thursday in Tokyo.

UNI

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