The Hindu Business Line : Rupee unchanged; bonds move up

Dealers said that after opening at 45.2550, the rupee slipped to 45.27 due to some corporate demand for the greenback, which was soon met with a good amount of dollar inflows which took the rupee back up to its closing levels. "The rupee is likely to remain in a tight range unless there is some trigger for it to move," said a dealer.

Forward premia inched up slightly in the six and twelve month maturities, closing at 0.39 per cent and 0.49 per cent, respectively, against Thursday's closing levels of 0.25 per cent and 0.40 per cent, respectively.

Bond prices gained some lost ground initially and recovered by about 40 paise in the longer end and around 30 paise in medium term segments.

The 8.07 per cent 2017 paper closed at Rs 121.85 as against its previous close at 121.45, while the 9.39 per cent 2011 paper ended at Rs 125.10 as against its closing on Thursday at Rs 124.75.

Dealers said there were several positives that lifted up market sentiment, which include repeated statements from the Finance Ministry and the RBI that inflation will remain softer towards the end of this year.

" Another factor which is a boost for the market is the news that the Market Stabilisation Funds will be eligible for SLR," said a dealer.

Call rates remained at around 4.20 per cent levels in the inter-bank market on Friday. In the three-day repo under LAF, RBI received and accepted 72 bids amounting to Rs 46,055 crore at the rate of 4.50 per cent.