THE RUPEE: firm trend

KARACHI: The rupee managed to hold overnight levels against the dollar on the money market on Saturday in process of trading, dealers said. The rupee was unchanged in term of the greenback for buying and selling at Rs 107.20 and Rs 107.40, dealers said.
OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee maintained upward trend in terms of the euro, picking up 25 paisas for buying and selling at Rs 113.00 and Rs 114.50, respectively, they said. At the week-end, the euro dropped for a second consecutive day in a continued reaction to the European Central Bank's extending its bond-buying program longer than many had anticipated, even as the bank cut the size of the monthly purchases.
The ECB said on Thursday it would reduce its monthly asset buys to 60 billion euros starting in April from 80 billion euros currently and extend purchases to December 2017 from March 2017. It reserved the right to increase the size of purchases again.

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Open Bid      Rs 107.20

Open Offer    Rs 107.40

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RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pakistani rupee showed strength and recovered its day earlier losses against the US dollar in the local currency market on Saturday.
According to currency dealers, the US dollar resumed trading on a depressed note and kept on declining following the interest of buyers in the market.
Consequently, the dollar could not sustain and declined its worth to Rs 107.40 and Rs 107.50 on buying and selling counters, respectively, as compared to Friday's closing rates of Rs 107.55 and Rs 107.90, respectively, they added.
On the contrary, the local currency failed to sustain its overnight trend as it lost its worth by 20-paisa against the pound sterling.
The pound's buying and selling rates went up from the day earlier closing rates of Rs 134.00 and Rs 135.00 to Rs 134.20 and Rs 135.20, respectively, they said.
RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The rupee remained firm against the dollar at currency exchange shops of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Saturday.
The dollar resumed trading at Rs 107 (buying) and Rs 107.50 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe further change in evening session and closed at Rs 107 (buying) and Rs 107.50 (selling).
Pound Sterling opened at Rs 135 (buying) and Rs 135.10 (selling) against same last week's rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 135 (buying) and Rs 135.10 (selling).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2016