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Rupee recovers after early loss, ends steady at Rs 42.4350 vs $

The rupee ended steady at Rs 42.43/4350 against the US greenback in a fairly active interbank foreign exchange market today.

Opening a bit lower at Rs 42.43/44 in the new fiscal year after four days of holidays, the rupee showed some signs of weakening and further eased to Rs 42.44/45 due to good dollar demand in the morning.

However, fresh dollar offloading by banks later helped the rupee to recover the mild morning loss, and closed steady at Rs 42.43/4350, the same level of March 31, 1998.

Dealers said that unlike in the capital market, the impact on political uncertainty was not felt in the forex market.

Forward premia which eased earlier in the day, later moved up on some paying pressure and ended slightly up from the previous day's close. Near forward premia remained steady while far forwards ended 3-4 paise higher.

The six-month annualised and yearly premia quoted marginally higher at 6.72 and 7.28 per cent respectively.

Premium on cash/spot and cash/tomorrow ended at 0.75-1.00 paise and 0.25-0.50 paise respectively. The month-wise premium in paise were: April 13-14, May 35-37, June 59-61, July 84-86, August 109-112 and September 135-138.

In the cross currency, the rupee appreciated against the Japanese yen and pound sterling while it weakened a bit against the euro. Yen ended at Rs 34.96 (35.64), sterling at Rs 68.10 (68.35) and euro at Rs 45.66 (45.46).

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate for US dollar at Rs 42.44 as against Rs 42.43 of the previous working day.

UNI

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