FOREX REPORT
The rupee remained steady against the dollar despite purchases made by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in both the spot and forward segments of the market. The spot rupee closed at 35.825. The six-month annualised forward premium closed at 4.03 per cent and the one year at 4.55 per cent.
The spot rupee opened at 35.82. The RBI entered the market picking up dollars that banks were offloading. This caused a marginal half paise move in the exchange rate. There was not much month-end demand.
The cash-tom and tom-spot were both -.25/.25 paise, and the cash-spot was -.5/.5 paise.
In the forwards segment, the apex bank entered the market picking up dollars for July. However, good forward dollar supplies from exporter remittances made sure that this did not have much of an impact on the premiums.
Monthly premiums in paise for the year ahead were 0-0 for June, 7-10 for July, 16-19 for August, 29-32 for September, 43-46 for October, 57-60 for November, 73-76 for December, 87-90 for January, 100-103 for February, 115-118 for March, 132-135 for April, and 147-150 for May.
Overseas, the markets remained quiet with major currencies not showing much movement. The market is awaiting the release of the Japanese trade data. The rupee weakened slightly at 59.52 against the pound, 20.79 against the mark, and 31.46 per 100 yen.
