Rupee close at 40.83/84 against USD

Mumbai, May 8: Rupee almost ended flat today at 40.83/84 against USD as persistent dollar demand from oil companies and importers dragged the domestic unit down from the days high of 40.72/73.

In the morning session, Rupee was seen recovering from the previous session's late losses yesterday, as investors tested to see whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had decided to cap the currency's strength.

It touched a day's high of 40.72/73 in the morning session today but later came down to register the day's low of 40.85/86 and finally closed at 40.83/84 against the previous close of 40.87/89 yesterday.

The Rupee had hit 40.53 per dollar on Monday, its highest since May 1998 before skidding lower in late trade as some investors suspected the Central Bank's intervention.

The Rupee has gained more than 8 per cent this year, with most of the gains coming in the last two months, boosted by capital inflows into the fast-growing economy, according to market sources.

The six-month and twelve-month premias today closed at 5.49 and 4.70 respectively.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today fixed the reference rate at Rs 40.78 per US dollar, down by 21 paise from its yesterday's rate of Rs 40.57 per USD, said RBI.

Against Euro, the domestic unit closed at 55.10/12 per unit each, against Pound it finished at 80.99 per unit each and the Yen was quoted at 33.99 per 100 units each, said brokers.

UNI