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Mumbai: THE rupee closed stronger by around 4 paise at 48.94/95 against the dollar as compared to 48.9825 on Friday, in a lacklustre forex market on Monday. The rupee opened at 48.98/99.

Forex dealers said importer demand drove the currency down to an intra-day low of 49 at which point State-run banks started selling dollars, thereby bringing the currency back up to its closing levels.

Dealers said, that the market was range-bound and the currency is expected to hover in the current band between 48.95 and 49.05 in the near term unless there are other triggers.

Meanwhile, forwards eased further with the six-month premium ending at 5.84 per cent and the premium for one year ending at 5.49 per cent (5.54 per cent).

Securities prices gained by 50-60 paise over opening levels as the bond market rallied on the back of easing call rates and improved sentiment. The 11.50 per cent 2011 paper which had opened at around Rs 127.15/20, closed at Rs 127.60/65. The 11.03 per cent 2012 paper closed at Rs 125.17/20 after opening at Rs 124.45/50 and the 7.49 per cent 2012 paper ended at Rs 99.90 after opening at Rs 99.40/50.

Dealers said that with expected redemptions of around Rs 7,000 crore this week, liquidity in the system has eased. Call rates had shot up to 8.50 per cent last week.

In the interbank call money market, call rates fell to 6.50-6.70 per cent. There were no bids received by the RBI for repo and reverse repo auctions under LAF.

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