Re ends higher at 44.78/$

MARKETS REPORT

Forex market

Outlook:
The spot rupee is expected to open in the range of 44.75/80 against the dollar.

Sentiment: Bullish

The spot rupee closed at 44.7775 against the dollar, gaining 0.1 per cent over yesterday's close of 44.835 after the Sensex rebounded from a 3-day slump and on speculation that share sales by companies would fetch money from overseas.

Money market

Sentiment: Bearish

Bond prices fell, reversing earlier gains, on speculation that the RBI is considering a rate hike after it raised the yields at the weekly t-bill sale.

The government sold 91-day bills at a yield of 7.1027 per cent, the highest yield in five years compared with 6.6462 per cent at the previous auction on December 6.

The government also sold 182-day bills at a yield of 7.2523 per cent, compared with 6.8869 percent at the previous auction.

The price of the 10-year benchmark fell by 7 paise.

The yield on the 10-year benchmark rose 1 bps to 7.64 per cent.

Call rates closed at 7.90 per cent compared with yesterday's close of 7.55 per cent. The RBI absorbed around Rs 5000 crore from the market.