Re firm at 43.74/$, gilts steady

Sentiment was bullish in the forex market today. Heavy inflows saw the rupee, which opened at 43.74 per dollar, touch an intra-day high of of 43.68 per dollar. It finally closed at 43.74 per dollar as against the last close of 43.76 per dollar.

Heavy buying by Life Insurance Corporation saw the sentiment turn bullish, but prices were range-bound ahead of the budget. Prices of securities across maturities moved in a band of 15-20 paise. The 10-year, 7.38% 2,015 bond closed at an yield of 6.51%.