Rupee maintains upward trend against dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee maintained its upward trajectory against the US dollar in the open market, and was selling at 312 during trading on Thursday, as gap with the inter-bank rate narrowed further.

Dealers said the rpee was being quoted at 312 for selling and 309 for buying purposes for customers in the open market, down from Wednesday’s levels.

In the inter-bank market, the rupee also appreciated against the US dollar.

“Raising money through shares is cheaper than bank borrowing”

The rupee was hovering at 304.57, an increase of Rs2.41, in the inter-bank market.

“Market expects rates may fall further amid the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) latest measures,” said a dealer.

On Wednesday, the rupee witnessed a slight recovery against the US dollar to settle at 306.98, an appreciation of 0.04 percent, in the inter-bank market.

In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a bid to strengthen controls amid the massive fall in rupee’s value in the open market, decided to introduce structural reforms in the Exchange Companies’ (ECs) sector.

Globally, a buoyant US dollar pushed the yen to a 10-month trough on Thursday and kept the euro and sterling pinned near three-month lows, as investors placed their faith in a still-resilient US economy even amid a dour global growth outlook.

The greenback scaled a fresh top of 147.865 yen in early Asia trade, its highest since last November.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, edged higher on Thursday, after industry data showed US crude oil inventories were expected to have fallen last week, signaling tightening supplies on top of extended production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Web Desk