Rupee gains 8 paise; Closes at 40.47/48 per dollar

Mumbai, Sep 18 (UNI) The Rupee bounced back strongly today and ended at 40.47/48 per dollar, up by nearly 8 paise, drawing positive cues from good inflows and on reports that US Fed may cut interest rates by almost 25 basis points.

According to dealers, foreign banks like Citi and Standard Chartered bank were seen selling dollars during the day.

Rupee opened steady at 40.56/57 per US Dollar and slipped down to a low 40.62 before recovering marginally.

The unit is likely to appreciate further by another 10 paise tomorrow owing to the strong inflow levels and favourable US data, said dealers.

Forward premia strenghtened today as six month premium ended at 1.76(1.62) percent while annualised premium ended at 1.82(1.77) percent.

Reserve bank today fixed the reference rate at Rs 40.59 per US dollar, down by 12 paise, compared to previous day's rate of Rs 40.47 per dollar.

Subsequently, rupee showed a strong trend against major world currencies. Against euro, it ended at 56.13(56.26/27), against pound sterling at 80.67(81.08/09) per unit each, while against Japanese yen, it was quoted at 35.20(38.27/29) per hundred units each.

UNI