The Hindu Business Line : Rupee stable

MUMBAI: The rupee closed at 45.4650/4750 per dollar on Monday, almost unchanged from Friday's close although it fell as much as 20 paise intra-day with FII seen mopping up dollars.

Alongside, after a spell of over a month the long term forwards today ended in premium with importer hedging kicking in.

The market opened at 45.45/48 against the greenback and fell 8 paise five minutes within opening and touched 45.65 by 10:00 am. The fall in value of the rupee is linked to the bourses more than ever, say dealers.

At about 11:00 - 11:30 am, the RBI interventions through the PSU banks brought the spot market to 45.47/48 levels. Thereafter, rupee reached the day's high of 45.42/44 at about 3:40 pm.

In the forwards market the six-month forward closed at - 0.13 per cent (-0.55 per cent), and the one-year forward closed at 1.20 per cent (-0.15 per cent).

Bond market witnessed a fall of about 20 to 30 paise across maturities. The sentiment in the market is negative on account of several reasons, said dealers.

Dealers said, the auction on June 3 will further mop up liquidity as nationalised banks and companies opt for it, there is also indication of the Government increasing market borrowings. The yield to maturity on the 10-year paper on Monday closed at 5.28 per cent up from Friday's close of 5.25 per cent.

The 8.07 per cent 2017 paper fell 30 paise from opening level of Rs 121.85; the 7.37 per cent 2014 paper fell to 115.90/95 from 116.20, and the 7.46 per cent 2017 paper fell 30 paise from open of 116.75/80.

The call rates today were steady at 4.25 - 4.50 per cent unlike on the previous Friday (a reporting one) when it went as high as 5.50-6.50. The RBI accepted funds worth Rs 21,205 crore through the seven-day repo and over Rs 3,500 crore through the 14-day one at the repo rate of 4.50 per cent.