Rupee ends steady; state banks buy dollars

Reuters: The rupee closed steady on Thursday as two State-run banks bought dollars sold by exporters, while the Central Bank did not intervene to manage the spot currency, dealers said.

The spot rupee is tightly managed by the Central Bank and market participants use the forward market levels for guidance on the currency. The spot rupee, which was active on Thursday, closed unchanged at 146.90/95 per dollar.

Rupee forwards were not as active as in the past four sessions, with the spot-next ending at 146.91/146.98, compared with the previous close of 147.00/05.

Dealers said they expected downward pressure on the currency due to a pick-up in seasonal imports through mid-December.

The rupee has been under pressure due to dollar demand by importers, and has fallen a little over 1% in the past two weeks, Thomson Reuters data showed.

The Central Bank has been buying dollars from the market to accumulate reserves to meet targets set by the International Monetary Fund under a $ 1.5-billion loan deal, dealers said.

Officials at the Central Bank were not available for comment.