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Rupee fall continues, RBI stays away

The Indian rupee was on virtual roller coaster ride in volatile trading at the interbank foreign exchange (forex) market here today. The rupee shed 5 paise compared to the previous close and has lost 23 paise since Monday.

Opening lower by 4-5 paise at Rs 36.73/74 against the American greenback, the rupee continued the downward trend as corporates and banks nervously covered their long positions. Enquiries by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at just before the midsession cooled nerves and consequently, the Indian unit appreciated to Rs 36.68/69.

Heavy client covering by banks, however, again drifted the rupee lower during latter part of the day. The rupee closed at Rs 36.74-75, losing five paise against the previous close of 36.69-70.

Forex dealers informed that the RBI was absent during the latter part of the day. Banks and corporates were busy covering their open positions which brought the rupee down after the midsession, a dealer said.

Cash spot ended at 1.50-2 paise premium. Tom spot closed at 0.375 paisa and cash Tom at 1-1.50 paise.

The pound sterling opened at Rs 62.86 and ended lower at Rs 62.58.

The forwards premia ended higher by 3-4 paise since the previous close. The monthly premium (in paise) were November 8-10, December 31-34, January 58-61, February 78-81, March 105-109, April 128-132, and May 150-154. The one-year forward closed at 253-258 paise premium.

The six-month annualised premia was quoted at 8 per cent during the fag end of trading.

In overseas trading, the yen showed little movement against other major currencies while the mark, after showing initial signs of depreciation, recovered against the US unit.

Back home, the yen closed at Rs 29.28 and the mark at Rs 21-34.

The RBI fixed the reference rate at Rs 36.73 per US dollar as against yesterday's fix Rs 36.71.

UNI