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Rupee loses by 4 paise

The market opened slightly steady at Rs 39.51-52 per dollar and hovering at the same level for quite some time. Later, it gradually went up on good demand from the State Bank of India and corporate sectors to meet regular remittances, leading dealers said.

As soon as it was reported that the Deustche Bank and Hongkong Bank were buying dollars, the SBI too started buying dollars which drifted the rate up to Rs 39.555-565 at close, dealers added.

However, the Reserve Bank of India purchased outright dollars in the month of May. To book profits, some cancellation of purchased dollar was witnessed in the forward dollar premium.

The six-month annualised premium was quoted at 6.57 per cent.

A nominal amount of export and import booking was observed in the cash and spot dollar while a moderate amount of export booking was conducted in near forwards in merchant section.

The pound sterling was quoted at Rs 65.57, Deutsche mark at Rs 21.48 and Japanese yen Rs 23.40 in cross currency markets.

The forward premiums remained constant. The cash to spot dollar was traded at 1.5-2 paise premium. The monthly forward premium, in paise, are: 5-7 for April, 21-24 for May, 42-44 for June, 64-66 for July, 90-94 for August, 120-123 for September and 147-151 for October.

The RBI has fixed the reference rate at Rs 39.51 per US dollar.

UNI