Rupee likely to trade at 53 vs US dollar by March: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

"The RBI will likely buy forex if the rupee strengthens to 52 per dollar levels with the dollar settling at 1.30 per euro. It will likely defend 56 per dollar levels if the dollar climbs to 1.20 per euro. Our forex strategists see the rupee at 53 level by March," it said.

The report also said that the domestic currency was likely to trade weak in the near future.

Talking about the current account deficit number, it said, "We have raised our...FY13 current account deficit forecast by 40 basis points to 4.1 per cent of GDP".

Current account deficit, which is measured by the difference between a country's exports of goods, services and transfers to total import within a time period, touched a record high of 5.4 per cent in the second quarter (July-September) or at USD 22.3 billion on the back of falling exports.

The CAD stood at USD 38.7 billion or 4.6 per cent of the GDP during the first half of the current fiscal.

This was mainly contributed by gold imports which amounted to USD 20.25 billion during this period.

Referring to gold, the report said that gold remained a swing factor and its imports were likely to pick up from this time.

"Gold imports remain a swing factor. While gold imports have come off 23.9 per

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