Rupee touches
Rs 36.25 per dollar
In an extremely one-sided market, the rupee
broke the psychological barrier of Rs 36.26 against the US
greenback and closed further higher at 36.25-255, following
selling pressure and lack of buying support at the interbank foreign
exchange market on Wednesday.
The Indian rupee gained by about 7.5 paise over the previous
close, and by 11-11.5 paise against last Friday's close.
The Reserve Bank of India, which supported the US dollar earlier when it tried to slide below the Rs 36.30 level,
has not been seen in the market for the past three days, which gave the rupee a clean path to appreciate continously.
The rupee opened at Rs 36.27-28 per dollar against the previous
day's finish of Rs 36.32, declined to the day's low of Rs 36.31
and remained stagnant at that level for quiet some time.
The State Bank of India did make some purchases during the course of
trading, but to little avail. In the afternoon, the rupee touched the day's high of
36.25-255 due to heavy dollar selling by financial
institutions. The rupee remained at the higher level till the
end of the day, forex dealers said.
Dealers said that were under the impression that the
central bank may come into the market when the dollar goes down
beyond 36.27 level. However, the market participants were
surprised at the non-intervention of the Reserve Bank.
''The central bank might have been thinking of some other option
than the direct intervention, because if it intervenes in the
market, there would be heavy outflow of currency in
the call market,'' said a forex dealer at a nationalised
bank.
''It seems that the RBI is thinking of some future stratagy,''
another forex dealer said.
The Reserve Bank of India fixed its reference rate at Rs
36.29 per dollar as against Rs 36.33 on Tuesday. The reference rate is based on the 12 noon rates of a few
select banks in Bombay. The SDR-rupee rate will be based
on this rate.
The forward dollar premia remained more or less steady on Wednesday.
The six-month annualised premium rose further to 6.2 per cent
against 5.89 per cent. The six month premium closed at 6.15 per cent.
In the swap section, September dollar was traded at 3.4 paise,
October at 21-26, November 37-42, December 56-61, January
75-77, February 89-94, and March 108-113 paise premium.
In the overseas market, hectic activity was witnessed
in the dollar-mark-rupee market.
The rupee traded between Rs 20.22--20.44 against the
Deutsche mark.
It remained steady against the pound sterling, opening at Rs 58.57 per pound, and closing at Rs 58.58.
The rupee opened at Rs 30.30 per 100 against the Japanese yen and
remained steady throughout the day, dealers said.
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