Rupee moves both ways

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The rupee moved both ways against dollar on the currency market on Friday in the process of trading, dealers said.

INTER-BANK RATES: The rupee shrugged off its overnight fall in relation to dollar, gaining five paisa for buying and selling at 86.09 and 86.13, they said.

In the final Asian session euro has run into stiff resistance after a rebound sparked when Greece effectively abandoned plans for a referendum on its bailout package, as market players worry that protracted political instability could bring further flare-ups in the euro zone's debt crisis.

Few market players see an end any time soon to the euro zone's debt and financial crisis, with Italian, Spanish and even French government bonds trading at hefty spreads over their German counterparts. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, facing a revolt from his own party over the plan to call a referendum, is bracing for a knife-edge confidence vote on Friday.

The yuan closed at a record high against dollar on Friday after the People's Bank of China set the mid-point at a historical high in the wake of a Group of 20 meeting in France pushing for greater exchange rate flexibility. The spread is around 490 pips, between offshore yuan, at 6.3880 and spot yuan, at 6.3392. The yuan closed at 6.3514 on Thursday. The dollar versus the Indian rupee was at Rs 49.03 and it was trading at 3.1225 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit.

OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee shed 20 paisa in terms of dollar for buying at 86.40 and dropped by 40 paisa for selling at 86.80, they said.

The rupee, gave up overnight firmness versus euro shedding Rs 1.21 for buying and selling at Rs 118.33 and Rs 118.83, they said.

LAHORE

The Pak rupee maintained downward slide and was further declined by 10-paisa on buying side and 30-paisa on selling side in relation to the greenback in the local currency market on Friday.

According to the currency dealers, the dollar's demand remained intact for the second consecutive day that kept the rupee under pressure. As a result, the dollar was closed at Rs 86.30 and Rs 87.00 as its buying and selling rates against the overnight closing of Rs 86.20 and Rs 86.70, respectively, the dealers said.

However, the rupee-pound sterling parity remained unchanged amid low trading activity in the open market. The pound was traded at Thursday closing of Rs 137.00 and Rs 138.00 on buying and selling counters respectively, the dealers said.

ISLAMABAD

The rupee-dollar parity remained unchanged at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Friday.

The dollar opened at Rs 87.60 (buying) and Rs 88.05 (selling) against the last rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 87.60 (buying) and Rs 88.05 (selling).

Pound Sterling opened at Rs 137.80 (buying) and Rs 137.90 (selling) against the overnight value. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 137.80 (buying) and Rs 137.90 (selling).