Rupee Closes At 35.71, Forwards Stable

There were fairly large fluctuations in the spot dollar rates due to the large sell-offs and the subsequent surge in demand for the greenback. Dealers, however, expect the spot rates to remain around the present levels for the rest of the month.

According market players, the spot dollar moved in a small range of five to six paise through the day. The American currency opened between Rs 35.74 and Rs 35.76. At this point, there was large dollar sell-off which pushed down the spot rates to Rs 35.69-35.70. After this, there was an increase in demand for dollars, thus driving the rates back to Rs 35.71-35.72. This was also the closing quote for the day.

There was little movement on the forward premiums. As a result of this, there was a small upward movement in the forward premium for September-end which moved from 8/10 paise last week to 11/13 paise. The other monthly premiums were unchanged from their last week's figures. The rates for October were quoting at 42/44 paise, 73/75 paise for November, 105/107 paise for December, 146/149 paise for January, 176/179 paise for February and 206/209 paise for March-end. The annualised rate computed at 10.4 per cent, disclosing no change from last week end's figures. Dealers voiced their surprise at the total lack of demand for forward dollars as they felt this was uncommon at this time.

The greenback did not move much against most major currencies in international markets yesterday. The dollar-mark rates were quoting between 1.4900 and 1.4930, while the dollar-yen rates were between 108.90 and 109.10. The pound sterling was ruling between 1.5600 and 1.5610.