With the dollar supplies being adequate, there was no appreciable fluctuation in the rates. There is, however, a growing feeling among players that the rupee will depreciate considerably by the end of December.
Resuming the day in the range of 35.71 to 35.72, the rupee hovered in this narrow band for the better part of the day before closing around the same figure. According to dealers, the State Bank of India (SBI) was bidding the greenback at 35.72. Most city-based banks, on the other hand, were selling dollars to SBI.
In contrast to the uneventful trading in the spot market, the forward market was relatively vibrant. Annualised rates on the six month forward dollar were quoting markedly lower. They stood at 10.2 per cent, as against 10.7 per cent on Thursday.
The five basis-point drop in the premiums was caused primarily on account of a large dollar sell-off by exporters. There, were, however reports that a number of exporters had rushed in to book forward cover for the near-term as the spot rupee is expected to crash in December.
Monthly premiums were lower. The rates were ruling at 1.5/2.5 paise for September-end, 28/31 paise for October, 56/59 paise for November, 85/88 paise for December, 123/126 paise for January, 154/157 paise for February and 184/187 paise for March-end.
Internationally, the greenback was traded heavily, particularly against the yen. It gained against the mark and the Swiss-franc. The dollar-mark rates were quoting between 1.5175 and 1.5180, significantly higher than the 1.5100 on Thursday. The dollar-yen rates were between 109.80 and 109.82.
