THE RUPEE: Modest rise

The rupee improved modestly against the dollar on the money market on Thursday in the process of trading activity, dealers said.

INTER-BANK MARKET RATES: The rupee gained seven paisas in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 155.65 and Rs 155.68 respectively, dealers said.

OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee picked up 10 paisas versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 155.50 and Rs 155.80 respectively, they added. The rupee was down by 40 paisas versus the euro for buying and selling at Rs 172.70 and Rs 174.00 respectively, they added.

In the third Asian trade, the Australian and New Zealand dollars firmed on Thursday as investors scaled back wagers on local interest rate cuts after the US Federal Reserve signalled a pause in its easing campaign.

Some solid domestic data on housing and trade also helped offset disappointing readings on Chinese manufacturing and services activity.

The Aussie reached a three-month top at $0.6928, having been as low as $0.6849 at one stage on Wednesday. In a bullish technical development, it also cleared major resistance at the September high of $0.6895.

The kiwi dollar popped up to $0.6424, leaving behind Wednesday's low of $0.6335, though it still faced tough resistance at the October peak of $0.6436.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 70.798, the greenback was available at 4.175 versus the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was at 7.042 in terms of terms of the Chinese yuan.

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Open Bid       Rs.155.50
Open Offer     Rs.155.80
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Interbank Closing Rates: Interbank Closing Rates For Dollar on Thursday.

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Bid Rate       Rs.155.65
Offer Rate     Rs.155.68
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RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pak rupee maintained upward trend for the fourth consecutive day against the greenback in the local currency market on Thursday.

Amid lack of buyers' interest in the market, the greenback remained under selling pressure for another day and ended further lower for buying and selling at Rs 155.00 and Rs 155.65 against the overnight closing trend of Rs 155.55 and Rs 155.85 respectively, local currency dealers said.

On the other hand, the local currency continued to keep going down for the third consecutive day versus the pound sterling. Consequently, the pound's buying and selling rates further rose from the Wednesday's closing of Rs 199.60 and Rs 200.20 to Rs 200.10 and Rs 200.80 respectively, they added.

RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The rupee gained 20paisa against the dollar at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Thursday.

The dollar opened at Rs 155.90(buying) and Rs 156(selling) against last rate of Rs 156.10(buying) and Rs 156.20(selling).

It closed at Rs 155.90(buying) and Rs 156(selling).

The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold were Rs. 87,500 (selling) and Rs 87,000 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.