Rupee ends at 39.73/74 per USD

Mumbai, Oct 19: The Rupee today ended with a slight gain against the US currency at 39.73/74 per dollar as compared to its previous close of 39.77/78 a dollar in a jittery forex market.

The Indian unit made a firm strart at 39.72/74 per dollar in the early trade, after some opening volatility in the market today. It traded in a wide range of 39.67 and 39.85 a dollar, tracking the swings in the stock market, dealers said.

The dealers maintained that the partially convertible Indian currency was still stronger over 11 per cent against the US currency this year.

The forward primia ended low today as the six months premium closed at 0.89 (1.90) per cent while annualised premium ended at 0.85 (0.96) per cent. Meanwhile, The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today fixed the reference rate at Rs 39.79 per US dollar. The reference rate was down by 32 paise as compared to yesterday's rate of Rs 39.47 per USD.

The Indian currency against euro ended firm at 56.50/51 (56.55) per unit, against Pound Sterling, it closed firm at 81.02/03 (81.00) per unit, while Japanese currency (Yen) was quoted at 34.26/27 (34.28) per hundred units.

UNI