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Re steady; call rates down

MUMBAI: THE spot rupee closed similar to Wednesday's levels at 46.76/77 to the dollar in a steady forex market on Thursday.

Dealers said the market continued to be subdued on account of positive sentiment over oil prices, adequate liquidity in the market, and lack of buying interest for the greenbacks.

However, the market today witnessed a significant fall in the forward premiums. The six-month premium ended softer at 3.75 per cent (3.85 per cent) and the 12-month premium ended at 3.95 per cent (4.07 per cent).

Dealers attributed this to the positive outlook on liquidity. ``Oil prices are stable, liquidity in the market is also good due to the IMD inflows, things are steady, so importers are not taking forward cover, as they would normally do in a panic situati on'', said a forex dealer with a private sector bank.

``Outlook on liquidity is good because call is hovering around 8 per cent, it is a sign that the interest rates may not go up. The forwards are likely to be in a tight range at these levels in the near future,'' said another dealer.

``Customer receiving has been good on the forwards and it came down significantly. We see the bottom around these levels and it is not likely to go down further,'' according to Mr Shah Rukh Wadia, Head Treasury, IndusInd Bank.

Meanwhile, in the inter-bank call money market, call rates closed lower at 8-8.10 per cent as against a high of 8.75 per cent on Wednesday.

In the one-day repo auction under LAF, RBI received and accepted one bid of Rs 225 crore at eight per cent. It announced a three-day repo and reverse repo auction under LAF on December 15. -- Our Bureau