Rupee Holds Ground, Forwards Edge Up

The rupee continued to remain steady against the dollar in the inter-bank foreign exchange market yesterday. After opening at 35.73-74 to the dollar, it further weakened to 35.75-76 during the course of the days trading. However, it strenghtened to close at 35.73-75 levels.

The spot market saw limited activity with the greenback rising because of buying pressure mostly from the State Bank of India and the corporate sector, and then falling because several banks sought to square off their positions in the latter half of the day.

The supply position was on par with the demand position with several banks selling the greenback. With the dollar holding its own against the Indian currency, the RBI had no cause for concern and, understandably, was not noticed in the market yesterday.

The cash-tom and cash-spot also rose as compared with Wednesday because of the upcoming 4-day long weekend starting from Saturday and concluding on Tuesday. The cash-tom was .25-1 and the cash-spot was .5-2.5. The forward market was relatively more active than the spot with the annualised forward premium and the monthly premiums registering an overall rise .

The annualised premium stood at 6.83. The monthly premiums were quoted as 4-7 for November, 20-23 for December, 41-44 for January, 62-65 for February, 91-94 for March, 113-116 for April, and 134-137 for May.