The rupee ended flat at 54 against the greenback on Tuesday. It pared the losses in early trades as corporates sold dollars. The rupee had opened lower at 54.24 on a weaker euro. However, the rupee reversed early losses, touching an intra-day high of 53.96, as dollar demand ebbed.
“Large dollar selling by corporates supported the rupee,” said a chief dealer at a nationalised bank. On Monday, the domestic unit had closed higher at 54 against the American currency on the back of big-ticket reform measures announced by the Government last week and the RBI’s CRR cut.
The overnight call money market moved a tad higher at 8.05 per cent from its previous close of 8 per cent.
The 10-year benchmark 8.15 per cent government security maturing in 2022 closed higher at Rs 99.87 (yield: 8.16 per cent) from a close of Rs 99.78 (yield: 8.18 per cent) on Monday.
The 8.33 per cent 2026 bond climbed to Rs 100.27 from Rs 100.0725, while its yield declined 8.29 per cent from 8.32 per cent. The 8.19 per cent 2020 bond also rose to Rs 99.5650 from 99.47, while its yield eased to 8.27 per cent from 8.28 per cent.
The RBI under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) purchased securities worth Rs 68,125 crore in 24 bids at the two-day repo auction at a fixed rate of 8 per cent, while sold securities worth Rs 5 crore from one bid at the two-day reverse repo auction at a fixed rate of 7 per cent.