After volatile day, rupee ends flat at 45.55/57/USD

Mumbai, May 22 (UNI) On a very volatile day of trading, rupee dipped 25 paise to 45.80 per US dollar on the back of 1,100-point fall in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex, a forex dealer here said.

But, finally the Indian currency closed flat at 45.55/57 per US dollar, unchanged from the last close of 45.55/57 on Friday, the dealer added.

Sensex recovered by 654 points later, but still closed 4.18 per cent down, bringing some relief to rupee.

The flat closing came on the back of assurance from Finance Minister P Chidambaram that there was ample liquidity to attend margin calls.

Reserve Bank of India, too, came to rescue assuring liquidity to banks for stock settlement.

The Indian currency earlier opened six paise weaker at 45.6150/6400 per USD in the morning.

The rupee then fell sharply by 20 paise at 45.75/78 per US dollar, as compared to the last close of 45.55/57 due to 1,100 points fall in the sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE.

Stock market's benchmark index fell below the 10,000 mark, slipping by 1,100 points this morning, leading to a slide in the rupee.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) fixed the reference rate at 45.68 per US dollar, which was 22 paise down as compared to Thursday's level.

The six-month forward premia ended higher at 1.10 per cent from the previous close of 0.90 per cent.

The one-year forward premia, too, ended higher at 1.17 per cent from the previous close of 1.03 per cent.

The cross-currency closing rate for rupee against euro was 57.98 (58.02), which was four paise down; for pound sterling it was 85.27 (85.31), again four paise down and for the Japanese yen it was 40.42 (40.68), 26 paise down from the previous close.

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