The Hindu Business Line : Rupee moves up; bond prices fall

The domestic currency opened at 44.68 and was range-bound between 44.67 and 44.71. It, however, appreciated to close at 44.5760, up from Thursday's close at 44.71.

Dealers said the rupee was range-bound for the most part of the day since there was not much movement in the other major currencies. In the forward premia market, there was a rise with the six-month closing at 1.40 per cent (1.22) and the 12-month at 1.10 per cent (0.95).

In the bond market, prices fell by around 10 paise during the day.Dealers said there was selling pressure on account of caution regarding the Rs 10,000-crore auction on Monday.

A dealer at a private bank said that liquidity in the system was not improving and an outflow on account of the auction could tighten the call rate further.

The 8.07-12-year 2017 paper opened at Rs 106.77 (7.17 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 106.67 (7.18 per cent YTM), lower than the earlier level of Rs 106.75 (7.17 per cent YTM).The 10.25-16-year 2021 paper opened at Rs 126.71 (7.32 per cent YTM) and ended at Rs 126.63 (7.33 per cent YTM), down from Thursday's close of Rs 126.70 (7.33 per cent YTM).

The call rate closed at 5.5 per cent (5.5/5.6) and touched 5.7 per cent during the day. In the first three-day reverse repo auction, RBI received threes bid for Rs 120 crore. In the second three-day reverse repo auction, RBI received 18 bids for Rs 3,590 crore and two bids for Rs 420 crore in the repo auction. In the CBLO market, there were 407 trades for Rs 16,922.20 crore in the range of 3-5.90 per cent.