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Rupee holds steady

The rupee opened on a weak note at Rs 38.82-87 per dollar, saw an initial buying from mostly all the bankers at Rs 38.85 level, dipped further to a day's low of Rs 38.90-95, and was widely traded between Rs 38.80 and Rs 38.90 levels, witnessing an all-round demand and finally settling on an improved note of Rs 38.73-75 due to the SBI's active interest in dollar selling, a dealer said.

The rupee, which came under pressure initially due to all round demand, was actively supported by the SBI's dollar sales which kept on coming simultaneously, whenever the market witnessed some demand, said a forex dealer from one of the nationalised banks.

Meanwhile, the forwards premiums that came under pressure recovered by about 30 paise due to good import covering, a dealer said. The six-month annualised premium ended at 16.23 paise premia.

The cash to spot opened at 7 to 12 paise and ended widely at 3 to 7 per cent, while the monthly premiums were spot/Feb 65-70 paise premium followed by spot/Mar 126-133, spot/Apr 177-187, spot/May 215-225, spot/Jun 265-275, spot/Jul 295-305, spot/Aug 325-340, spot/Sep 360-375, spot/Oct 400-415, spot/Nov 444-455, spot/Dec 480-495 and spot/Jan '99 at 515-535 paise premium respectively.

On the other hand, the overseas market witnessed relatively quiet market with the dollar initially strengthening and later on was reported weaker against various other European currencies, a dealer from the foreign bank said.

The Reserve Bank of India fixed the reference rate at Rs 38.92 per dollar as against yesterday's fix of Rs 38.71 per unit.

UNI