The Hindu Business Line : Rupee gains; bonds flat

The domestic currency opened at 46.02, up from Monday's close at 46.11/12. It then touched an intra-day high of 46 and was range-bound during the day to finally close at 46.09.

A dealer at a private bank said that there was not much trading activity. In the forward market, the 12-month premium closed at 0.72 per cent (0.9) and the 6-month ended at 0.89 per cent (0.72).

In the bond market, prices were flat and the volumes were thin. The prices opened lower and the sentiment was negative due to the liquidity crunch and the higher call rates. However, they recovered to close at the same level as Monday.

The 8.07 per cent-12 year-2017 paper opened at Rs 106.22 (7.24 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 106.297 (7.23 per cent YTM), slightly higher than Monday's Rs 106.26 (7.2373 per cent YTM). The 10.25 per cent-16 year-2021 paper opened at Rs 125.93 (7.405 per cent YTM) and ended at Rs 126.08 (7.39 per cent YTM), lower than Monday's close at Rs 126.15 (7.38 per cent).

The call rate closed at 5.80-90 per cent (5.75-80) but touched an intra-day high of 6.25 per cent. In the first one-day reverse repo auction, the Reserve Bank of India received and accepted five bids amounting to Rs 560 crore. In the second auction, it received and accepted two bids for Rs 380 crore.

In the CBLO market, there were 303 trades for Rs 12,911.05 crore in the range of 5.53-6.25 per cent.