Pressure built up on the rupee in the interbank market on Tuesday in the absence of State Bank's support as a result of which it lost six paisa against dollar at Rs 59.07 and Rs 59.09 for buying and selling, respectively, currency dealers said. They said that the falling trend in rupee value is a signal that the SBP wanted to leave the local currency to market forces, for the time being at least.
The demand for dollars persisted due to high payment requirements, they said, and added that another factor might be to keep export products competitive in world market.
In the meantime, market players were expecting that the SBP might intervene in the market if the rupee came down sharply.
In the world markets, the dollar moved up slightly versus leading currencies on expectations that the US Federal Reserves might raise interest rates in its meeting.
The rupee, however, lost 25 paisa versus euro for buying and selling at Rs 72.35 and Rs 72.65, they added.
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Kerb buying Rs 59.57
Kerb selling Rs 59.68
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Buying Rs 59.07
Selling Rs 59.09
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The demand for dollar remained intact, which helped appreciation in its worth against the rupee. The dollar commenced trading at overnight closing rates of Rs 59.45 and Rs 59.55 on buying and selling sides, respectively. The demand for the greenback increased in anticipation of appreciation in its worth. At the end, the dollar closed at Rs 59.50 and Rs 59.60 on buying and selling counters, respectively, the currency dealers said.
However, the rupee maintained upward trend and registered improvement in its worth against the British currency. The pound's buying rate declined from Monday's closing rate of Rs 106.35 to Rs 106.10, while its selling rate moved down from Rs 106.75 to Rs 106.60, they added.
The dollar opened at Rs 59.50 (buying) and Rs 59.60 (selling) against the same last rate. It did not observe any further change in the second session and closed at Rs 59.50 (buying) and Rs 59.60 (selling).
Pound sterling opened at Rs 106.30 (buying) and Rs 106.40 (selling) against the same previous rate. It did not observe any further change in the second session and closed at Rs 106.30 (buying) and Rs 106.40 (selling).
Canadian dollar opened at Rs 45.80 (buying) and Rs 45.90 (selling) against the same overnight value. It did not observe any further change in the second session and closed at Rs 45.80 (buying) and Rs 45.90 (selling).