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Rupee gains 15 paise

The Indian currency today recovered by about 15 paise against the greenback with some import demand and an equally matched supply to hit the quiet interbank foreign exchange market.

While on the other hand the forwards came down slightly over yesterday's levels following the Reserve Bank of India's intervention as the call segment witnessed haywire conditions during the today with the call rates breaching the 40 per cent mark in the initial trading hours. However the call rates settled down lower at 10 per cent at the fag end.

The rupee opened easy at Rs 39.25-30 per dollar compared to yesterday's close of Rs 39.37-41, touched the day's high of Rs 39.14-16 levels in the morning due to a bearish sentiment and later due to some demand, moved lower to hover between Rs 39.20 and Rs 39.30 levels throughout the day. Finally, it settled down higher at Rs 39.22-25, showing a gain of about 15 paise over yesterday's levels.

According to the market analysis, the forex market was reported very quiet throughout with the rupee moving steadily in the range of Rs 39.22/25 as the dollar demand and the supply matched resulting in a stable market. Even the wide fluctuations in the call segment for the day did not hamper the trading in the forex market, a dealer remarked.

The cash to spot dollar opened at a high of 12 to 14 paise premium due to higher call rates and closed at 7 to 8 paise for the day. Cash tom was quoted at 3 to 5 paise.

The forwards came down a bit for the month of February and March due to the RBI's intervention. The sixth month premium was quoted at 9.63 per cent for the day.

The monthly premiums ended at December 9-10, January 40-41, February 78-79, March 114-117, April 154-156 and May 174-176 paise premiums respectively.

Pound sterling was quoted higher against all other major currencies while the dollar remained steady in an otherwise firm trend, a dealer said.

The Reserve Bank fixed the reference rate at Rs 39.27 per dollar as against yesterday's fix of Rs 39.46 per US unit.

UNI