The Hindu Business Line : Rupee down 4 paise; securities decline

MUMBAI: The rupee closed at 45.47/49 per dollar on Friday, weaker by about four paise, as compared with Thursday's close of 45.43. Over the week, the rupee has lost 15 paise.

Most of the trading day was lacklustre while towards the end there was exporter cancellation and importer demand for the greenback. PSU banks were seen selling at the direction of the RBI. Rupee touched a high of 45.38 and a low of 45.58.

The forwards might move towards premium in a week or two, said dealers. The six-month forward closed at a steeper discount of - 0.55 per cent (- 0.46 per cent), and the one-year forward closed at - 0.15 per cent (- 0.10 per cent).

Securities declined by 20-25 paise. The longer tenor papers reacted sharply to the anxiety fuelled by expected interest rate hike in the Employment Provident Fund

"The market appears to have a low appetite for the 2028, 6.01 per cent yield paper considering the near term interest rate scenario which points in the direction of hardening interest rates," said Mr. Akshat Lakhera, Interest rate trader, HDFC Bank.

The benchmark 8.07 per cent 2017 paper closed at a higher yield of 5.60 per cent (5.54 per cent) and the 7.37 per cent 2014 paper closed at a higher yield of 5.25 per cent, up from 5.21 per cent.

The call rates closed higher at 5.50-6 per cent.

In the seven-day repo under the LAF, the RBI received and accepted 40 bids amounting to Rs 10,055 crore at the repo rate of 4.50 per cent.