India cenbank bought net $8.56 billion in spot forex market in February, bulletin shows

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bought $8.56 billion on a net basis in the spot foreign exchange market in February, data released on Tuesday as part of the central bank's monthly bulletin showed. The RBI did not sell any dollars in the spot market in February. In January, the central bank had bought a net of $1.95 billion in the spot market. The Indian rupee appreciated by 0.2% against the dollar in February. The unit traded in a range of 82.8225 to 83.1150. The RBI's net outstanding forward purchase stood at $9.69 billion as of end-February, compared with a net purchase of $9.97 billion at the end of the previous month, the data showed.

The central bank intervenes in the spot and forwards market to curb exchange rate volatility.

The domestic currency settled at 83.3425 on Tuesday, after hitting a record low of 83.5750 last week.

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)