Money

Sentiment : Firm on gilts

Five- and 10-year gilts spun up by 15-20 paise today after expectations of a repo rate cut were belied by the Reserve Bank of India.

Gilts turned rangebound after the repo auction.

Primary dealers exited 15- and 20-year papers and bought into five- and 10-year papers.

Call money edged up a touch to close at 5.70-5.75 per cent as all repo bids aggregating Rs 10,010 crore were accepted.

Outlook: Gilts could go up by another 10-20 paise. Overnight call money rates could also open narrowly higher.

Forex

Sentiment : Bullish on rupee

The rupee weakened today after rising continuously for the past four days, and ended at 48.4825/4850 per dollar compared with Wednesday's 48.4475/4500.

The Indian unit opened biddish at 48.4650/4700 but edged lower.

Demand for greenbacks from a state-owned power company and dollar short covering by banks clipped the rupee. There were adequate supplies of greenbacks.

Forward premiums opened lower but edged up a bit as expectations of a repo rate cut were belied.

Outlook: The rupee is expected to hover in the 48.47-48.50 band to a dollar. Forward premiums is not expected to see much movement.