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Rupee holds steady

The Indian rupee remained steady in the absence of demand for the US dollar, in an extremely quiet trading at the interbank foreign exchange market.

The rupee opened at 42.51/53 per dollar and hardly saw any movement for most part of the day. It was quoted at 42.52/53 in the afternoon, and ended steady at 42.5150/5250.

Some actions were noticed in the forwards, when the State Bank of India started receiving in the month of March and November, as a result of which far forward premiums came down considerably.

The March premium opened at 181-185 paise and closed lower at 169-174 paise, forex dealers said.

Cash-spot opened higher at 1.75-2.25 paise premium and closed lower at 1.00-1.50 paise premium.

Monthly premiums in per cent were quoted for September 6.25, October 6.69, November 7.22, December 7.39, January 7.50, February 7.75, March 7.92, April 8.16, May 8.31, June 8.45, July 8.56 and August 8.66.

The Reserve Bank of India has fixed the reference rate at Rs 42.53 per dollar against Thursday's Rs 42.47.

In the overseas market, the US dollar registered a slight recovery against major European currencies, dealers said.

In the local market, the rupee was traded between 71.50-71.45 against the British pound, 25.11-25.08 against the Deutsche mark and 32.21-32.19 against the Japanese yen.

The spot monthly figures in paise were September 3-5, October 27-30, November 53-56, December 83-86, January 110-115, February 139-144, March 169-174, April 202-207.

UNI