The rupee closed almost flat on Wednesday at 60.97 as the markets remained on the edge over the apex court’s impending order on cancelling the licenses of coal blocks allocated since the year 1993. Also, the currency market movement remained muted as the month end demand for dollars from oil importers weighed on it.

The Indian unit had closed at 60.95 on Tuesday.

It opened at 61.01 and then moved in the narrow 60.92 – 61.05 range.

The rupee is likely to trade with a downward bias ahead of the RBI monetary policy next week amid strengthening dollar, according to experts.

Call Rates, G-sec yields up

The interbank call money rate, the rate at which banks borrow short-term funds from one another, ended at 8 per cent from a close of 7.60 per cent on Tuesday.

The price on the 10-year benchmark 8.40 per cent government security, maturing in 2024, fell to Rs 99.44 from Tuesday’s close of Rs 99.53. The yield on the bond hardened to 8.48 per cent from previous close of 8.46 per cent.

Bond prices and yields move in the opposite directions.

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