Paring initial losses, the rupee jumped 48 paise to close at 52.40 against the dollar on the back of foreign exchange inflows and dollar selling by banks and exporters. The rupee also found support from the narrowing of country’s current account deficit for April-June quarter, which resulted in the balance of payments recording a slight surplus. In the morning trade, a weaker euro and Asian markets led the rupee to open lower at 52.99 from its previous close of 52.88 per dollar on Friday. Uncertainty over Spain's bailout and the worst performance of Euro Zone manufacturing in the three months to September since the Great Recession (as per a business survey released today) curtailed rupee’s gain. Further, the first US jobs data after the Federal Reserve’s monetary easing measures due on Friday is likely to impact the rupee. “The current reform measures could translate into investments and growth. This will help sustain the rupee appreciation,” said Ashish Parthasarthy, Head of Treasury, HDFC Bank. The rupee gained over 250 paise in the past fortnight after the Government announced a slew of measures to boost the market sentiment. “We see the rupee in the range of 52-54 levels by December,” Parthasarthy added.
Call rates and G-secs
The overnight call money rates closed higher at 8.15 per cent from Friday’s close of 7.95 per cent. Intra-day, the call rates gyrated in the 7 to 8.15 per cent range. The 10-year benchmark 8.15 per cent government bond ended lower at Rs 99.91 (yield: 8.16 per cent) from its previous close of Rs 99.99 (yield: 8.14 per cent) on Friday.