Re firms up to 43.72/$; gilts rally

The spot rupee, which opened around 43.81 per dollar, firmed up in intra-day deals and closed at 43.72 per dollar on strong rally in the stock markets and dollar weakness in overseas markets.

Sentiment was bullish in the government securities market today. With  inflation coming down, prices of short and medium term papers moved up between 5-15 paise.

The 10-year 7.38%, 2,015 bond closed at an yield of 6.73%. While call rates were steady at 4.70%, reverse repo bids totalled Rs 14,000 crore.