The rupee was range-bound against the dollar yesterday, moving in a two to three- paise range during the entire course of trading. The highlight of the day was, however, the marginal fall in the forward premiums.The market was looking forward to the credit policy to be laid out today.
The rupee opened between 35.65 and 35.66, and hovered around this figure for the better part of the day. A few stray dollar purchases, however, caused fluctuations in the rates by one to two paise.
The State Bank of India was reported to picked up a moderate amount of greenbacks have come into the market late in the evening and bought a moderate amount of dollars. This sent the rates to 35.68. The market closed at 35.6750.
In the forward segment, the premiums first firmed up and then fell towards the end of the day. Dealers reported a fairly good selling towards the end of the day.
The monthly premiums, therefore, closed marginally lower compared with those over the last two days. The rates were at 3/5 paise for October, 18/22 paise for November, 40/45 paise for December, 72/77 paise for January, 100/105 paise for February, 128/133 paise for March and 157/162 paise for April end. The annualised rates, which touched 8.8 per cent during the day, fell to 8.5 per cent towards close.
