May 14, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423

MUMBAI, May 13: The rupee ended steady on Monday in lacklustre, range-bound trading marked only by light dollar purchases by state-run banks.

Dealers said the rupee hovered in a range of $49.0050-49.0250 per for most of the day, moving a shade higher in closing deals to end unchanged at 48.99/49.00, the all-time closing low struck on Friday.

They expected the rupee to trade weaker than 49 on Tuesday, but views differed on whether state-run banks were intervening on behalf of the central bank to keep the rupee weak.

The rupee, now close to its lifetime low of 49.06 hit on April 24, has lost 1.55 per cent against the dollar in 2002, which makes it slightly undervalued on a trade-weighted basis.

Dollar forwards were relatively more active on Monday.—Reuters