THE RUPEE: Appreciation persists

Trend of appreciation continued on Wednesday for Pakistan rupee in both interbank and open market.

INTER-BANK MARKET RATES: Pakistan rupee gained 50 paisas against USD in Interbank market for buying while for selling it appreciated by one rupee closing at Rs 160 and Rs 160.5 respectively.

OPEN MARKET RATES: In the open market, rupee again appreciated by two rupees against USD for both buying and selling closing at Rs 158.50 and Rs 159.50 respectively.

Against Euro, PKR appreciated by one rupee for both buying and selling closing at 171 and 172 respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, PKR did not show any change over yesterday's exchange rate closing at 42 and 42.40 respectively. Against Saudi Riyal, PKR appreciated by 20 paisas for buying and by 30 paisas for selling closing at 40 and 40.50 respectively.

LAHORE

The Pak rupee continued upward trend for the third consecutive day against the greenback and the British pound in the open currency market on Wednesday.

Following lack of buyers' interest in the market, the greenback remained under selling pressure for third consecutive day and ended further lower for buying and selling at Rs 158.50 and Rs 160.00 against the overnight closing rate of Rs 160.50 and Rs 162.00 respectively, local currency dealers said.

Likewise, the rupee also followed the suit in relation to the pound sterling that was bought and sold at Rs 188.50 and Rs 190.50 against the Tuesday's closing trend of Rs 193.50 and Rs 195.50 respectively, they added.

ISLAMABAD

The rupee gained Rs 2 against the dollar at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The dollar opened at Rs161 (buying) and Rs 161.10 (selling) against last rate of Rs163 (buying) and Rs 163.50 (selling).

It closed at Rs161 (buying) and Rs 161.10 (selling).

The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold were Rs 101,700 and Rs 101,500 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.