The Hindu Business Line : Rupee firms up; bonds range-bound

Dealers said the domestic currency opened at 44.35/36 and touched an intra-day low of 44.38. It, however, appreciated to close the day at 44.25, up from Thursday's close at 44.3550.

Dealers expect the rupee to be range bound between 44.10 and 44.50 in the next week.

In the forward premia market, the 6-month closed at 2.2 per cent (2.25) and the 12-month ended at 1.63 per cent (1.7).

In the bond market, prices rose by 8 to 10 paise during the day but there was volatility in the market.

Dealers said there was some selling interest initially, but the latter part of the day saw some buyers also coming into the market.

A dealer at a private bank said apprehensions about the liquidity crunch caused the sentiment to be bearish. However, rumours that the central bank could cut the cash reserve ratio to improve liquidity brought traders into the market.

The 8.07-11 year-2017 paper opened at Rs 106.45 (7.21 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 106.515 (7.20 per cent YTM), higher than Thursday's Rs 106.42 (7.21 per cent YTM). The 10.25-15 year-2021 paper opened at Rs 126.46 (7.345 per cent YTM) and closed at Rs 126.52 (7.34 per cent YTM).

The call rate closed at 6.4-6.6 per cent (6.5). In the first three-day reverse-repo, the RBI received two bids for Rs 20 crore and 26 bids for Rs 12,440 crore in the repo auction. In the second three-day reverse-repo auction, it received six bids for Rs 455 crore and in the repo auction11 bids for Rs 1,805 crore .

In the CBLO market, there were 375 trades for Rs 12,738.80 crore in the rate range of 5-6.5 per cent.