Rupee slips to 54.98

The rupee closed just shy of the 55 per dollar mark amid heavy demand for the American currency from oil importers and banks.

On Thursday, the domestic unit, which opened at 54.90, shed about 49 paise to close at 54.9775. The rupee snapped its four-day rally on Wednesday, when it closed at 54.49.

“The rate cut by China’s central bank was the main reason why the rupee rallied back from the day’s low of 55.2250 levels.

“The rupee was impacted in intra-day trade because of high demand for dollars from oil importers and big banks,” a dealer with a public sector bank said. Intraday, the rupee saw a high of 54.80.

A rate cut by China’s central bank is seen as positive as this will infuse more liquidity in one of the world’s key markets.

Tomorrow the rupee might touch 55.50 as the European Central Bank (ECB) effected a 25 basis points cut each in the refinance rate to 0.75 per cent and deposit rate to zero, he said. Such a move will infuse more liquidity into the Euro-Zone and encourage inter-bank trade.

The rate cut by ECB sent the euro lower against major currencies.

Call climbs; G-Secs fall

The inter-bank call rates closed at its opening rate of 8.10 per cent. It had closed at 7.05 per cent on Wednesday.

The 9.15 per cent government security maturing in 2024 closed at Rs 105.73 (yield: 8.39 per cent) compared with a close of Rs 105.84 (yield: 8.37 per cent) on Wednesday.

The benchmark 8.79 per cent government security that matures in 2021 closed at Rs 102.85 (yield: 8.34 per cent) compared with a close of Rs 102.93 (yield: 8.32 per cent) on Wednesday.

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