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RBI intervention pushes rupee up 29 paise

Heavy intervention by the Reserve Bank of India and good inflow of dollar helped the Indian rupee gain by 29 paise against US dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market in Bombay today.

The market opened higher at Rs 39.80-90 per US dollar following a statement made by RBI Governor Bimal Jalan that the present dollar rate is reasonable. The apex bank intervened at Rs 39.90 level to arrest a further fall in the Indian rupee, leading forex dealers said.

Due to volatility in the market, the central bank intervened twice in the market, the second time at Rs 39.65. The apex bank injected approximately US $100 billion, dealers said. But, RBI officials declined to give the figures.

After the heavy fluctuation in the market, the dollar finally closed at Rs 39.34-39.

The RBI has fixed the reference rate for the dollar at Rs 39.44 as against Rs 39.59 on the last working day.

Most of the transactions were done in the range of Rs 39.40-50, only few deals were made at at Rs 39.90 level.

At the lower level, heavy forward and far-forward booking was witnessed. Only five paise movement was observed in the spot/February and spot/June dollar went up by five paise, dealers added.

The range-bound trading was witnessed in the cross currency market. The pound sterling was quoted at Rs 64.34, mark was at Rs 22.18 and yen at Rs 30.06 per 100 units.

The forward premium remained more or less steady. Cash to spot dollar was traded at 1--1.25 paise premium, spot/Dec was traded at 17--20 paise premium, spot/June was quoted at 196--201 paise premium.

UNI