Sustained $ demand takes Rs. to 1-week low

Forex dealers said capital inflows worth nearly $280 million could not stem the fall in rupee.

The local unit started the day’s trade on a weak note at 53.44 against Thursday’s close of 53.22 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market.

It moved in a narrow range of 53.42-53.65, before settling at 53.50, a loss of 28 paise, or 0.53%.

“The rupee weakened against the US dollar today, taking cues from sluggish domestic stocks and fall in euro on Thursday.

The dollar index was down by 0.25% against a basket of six major currencies as the euro today stabilised against the dollar as market focus returned to signs that the euro-zone economy was calming down.

“The better-than-expected Chinese Trade balance numbers and easing of CPI numbers, sharp rebound in JPY and best German export data pushed the dollar index lower from its high point of the day to below 80 levels,” Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said.

Bonds snap 2 weeks of falls; more gains likely

Mumbai : Federal bonds snapped two weeks of falls as a successful stake-sale in power utility NTPC, a lower-than-expected growth estimate for the current fiscal year and hopes of a rate cut yet again in March, kept investors in a bullish mode.

Ten-year bond yields closed down 4 basis points at 7.84%, its biggest single-day fall

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