Thursday May 29, 11:48 AM
Rupee in tight range; oil, stocks eyed |
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MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee hovered in a tight range on Thursday, caught between exporters cashing in their dollar holdings and dollar demand from oil refiners to make month-end import payments.
At 11.00 a.m., the partially convertible rupee was at 42.73/74 per dollar, steady with Wednesday's close after recovering from an early fall to 42.78. It hit a 13-month low of 43.21 last week.
"There is oil demand today but many exporters are selling at 42.75-42.80 levels, which will keep the rupee in a range of 42.60 to 42.80 through the rest of the session," a dealer with a private bank said.
Oil, India's biggest import, traded above $130 a barrel on Thursday after hitting a low near $126 in the previous session. It hit record highs above $135 hit last week, and the record prices have raised concerns of a widening trade deficit.
Traders were also watching share prices as an indicator of foreign inflows. The main share index opened up 0.85 percent, following a 1.5 percent rise in the previous session, although it trimmed the gains through the morning session.
"Any positive news in stocks will boost the rupee upwards," the dealer said.
The 30-share BSE index is down about 18.5 percent so far in 2008 and foreigners have been net sellers of nearly $3.6 billion worth of Indian stocks this year.
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