Money

Sentiment : Positive

Call rates were static around 5.70-5.75 per cent despite outflows on account of on-tap sale of state development loans.

There were nine bids worth Rs 16,030 crore at the one-day repo auction, all of which were accepted partially for Rs 12,824 crore.

Long gilts moved up by 20 paise as players expect the Reserve Bank of India to set a higher cut-off at the auction of 15-year and 20-year papers scheduled for last week.

Medium-tenor gilts edged up by around five paise. The overall trading interest was good.

Outlook: Call money is expected to rule easy around the repo rate of 5.75 per cent. There will be buying interest in government securities at the long end of the maturity scale.

Forex

Sentiment : Bullish

The rupee strengthened to end at a high of 48.5650/5700 per dollar as against Monday's close of 48.5900/5925.

But for dollar buying by state-owned banks the rupee could have risen past the 48.55 level.

There was not much impact of crude oil touching $30 per barrel on the rupee.

Exporters brought in their remittances with the rupee looking firm, while importer demand for greenbacks remained slack.

In real effective exchange rate terms, the rupee is currently undervalued by around 4 per cent.

Forward premiums edged up on paying interest; they seem to have more-or-less bottomed out at present.

Outlook: The rupee is seen hovering in the 48.56-48.60 band per dollar tomorrow. Supplies of greenbacks are expected to be comfortable. Forward premiums will tend to be flat.