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| Rupee snaps 6-day gain as importers purchase dollars |
| Bloomberg & Pti / Mar 28, 2011, 00:26 IST |
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India’s rupee weakened for the first time in seven days on speculation local importers will step up foreign-currency purchases to settle quarter-end bills. The currency retreated from near a three-month high as calls for the Federal Reserve to end purchases of US Treasuries shored up support for the greenback. India’s imports grew 13 per cent in January from a year earlier, after declining 11 percent the previous month, according to government data.
“The pressure on the rupee is mainly due to rising dollar demand from importers ahead of the March 31 financial year- end,” said Vikas Babu, a foreign-exchange trader in Mumbai at state-owned Andhra Bank. “The dollar’s rebound against other currencies is fueling that trend.”
The rupee slid 0.4 percent to 44.84 per dollar as of the 5 pm close in Mumbai, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That is the biggest decline since March 10. The currency touched 44.61 on March 25, the strongest level seen since Jan. 4.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against the currencies of six major US trading partners, was headed for its highest close in more than a week.
Offshore forwards indicate the rupee will trade at 45.63 in three months, compared with expectations of 45.44 at the end of last week. Forwards are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set price and date. Non-deliverable contracts are settled in dollars.
Bonds advance on speculation
India’s 11-year bonds gained for a fifth day on speculation banks will add to their holdings of government debt to meet regulatory requirements before the financial year ends this week.
Yields dropped to this year’s lowest level as lenders must invest at least 24 percent of their deposits in finance ministry notes and other approved securities. Banks have to declare their bond holdings to the Reserve Bank of India at the end of each quarter. Deposits rose to a record Rs 51.4 trillion rupees as of March 11, according to central bank data.
“There is good demand from banks to meet regulatory requirements,” said A.Y. Shedshale, a Mumbai-based deputy general manager at Bank of Maharashtra. “That is pushing yields lower.”
The yield on the 8.13 percent note due September 2022 dropped one basis point, or 0.01 percentage point, to 8.01 percent at the 5 pm close in Mumbai, according to the central bank’s trading system. That is the lowest level since December 29. The cost of one-year interest-rate swaps, or derivative contracts used to guard against fluctuations in borrowing costs, decreased on Monday. The rate, a fixed payment made to receive floating rates, dropped two basis points to 7.44 per cent.
Call rate drops
Call rate dropped on the overnight call money market here on Monday on surfeit of liquidity in the banking system. Call rate moved in a tight range of 7.50 per cent and 7.40 per cent before concluding the day remarkably lower at 7.50 per cent from 7.70 per cent last Friday. The Reserve Bank of India under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility purchased securities worth Rs 56,900 crore from 40 bids at one-day repo auction at a fixed rate of 6.75 per cent.
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