Increasing demand for dollars by the corporate sector in the interbank market on Monday dragged the rupee value down, giving up eight paisa against the dollar for buying and selling at 59.70 and 59.72, money experts said.
Higher import payment bills pushed the dollar demand up as major banks bought dollars and importers on the other hand also covered their forward requirements.
The dollar is dearer in the local market despite the fact that the greenback is not gaining momentum in the globe due to rising oil prices, they observed.
In the meantime, dealers said that if the dollar supply increases in the shape of remittance and inflows of foreign exchange for investment in the country, the rupee to limit its slide versus the US currency.
In the world markets, the oil prices continuously going up and crossed 70 dollars mark a barrel on Monday in the Asian trading, experts said.
Commenting on the persisting rise in the oil rates, experts attributed the upward trend to the Iraq war, saying that if the tensions prolonged in the region over the war and other geo-political issues, the prices might climb in the near future.
Fresh increase in the oil prices, hurt the dollar's sentiment in the world markets as the greenback lost its stability against most of the currency units, they said.
The rupee maintained its firmness, showing no change versus the dollar in its weekend's buying and selling rates at 60.05 and 60.15, respectively.
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Kerb Buying Rs 60.05
Kerb Selling Rs 60.15
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Buying Rs 59.70
Selling Rs 59.72
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Repo Rates (Yield p a)
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Tenor Low Bid High Bid Low Offer High Offer Average
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Overnight 6.50 7.50 6.75 8.00 7.19
1-Week 6.75 7.00 7.25 7.40 7.10
2-Week 7.00 7.25 7.25 7.40 7.23
1-Month 7.10 7.40 7.40 7.75 7.41
2-Months 7.50 7.60 7.75 8.00 7.71
3-Months 7.60 7.80 7.90 8.10 7.85
4-Months 7.70 7.90 8.00 8.20 7.95
5-Months 7.80 8.00 8.10 8.20 8.03
6-Months 7.90 8.10 8.15 8.30 8.11
9-Months 8.00 8.20 8.30 8.45 8.24
1-Year 8.25 8.50 8.75 8.90 8.60
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Call Rates (Yield p a)
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Tenor Low Bid High Bid Low Offer High Offer Average
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Overnight 7.00 8.00 7.25 8.50 7.69
1-Week 7.00 7.50 7.50 8.00 7.50
2-Week 7.25 7.75 7.60 8.10 7.68
1-Month 7.60 8.00 8.25 8.50 8.09
2-Months 8.00 8.25 8.25 8.50 8.25
3-Months 8.10 8.75 8.50 9.00 8.59
4-Months 8.25 8.80 8.60 9.10 8.69
5-Months 8.30 9.00 8.75 9.25 8.83
6-Months 8.50 9.20 8.75 9.50 8.99
9-Months 8.75 9.40 9.20 9.60 9.24
1-Year 9.00 9.50 9.60 9.75 9.46
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According to the currency dealers, the dollar witnessed selling pressure, which helped the rupee improve its worth. The dollar's trading resumed at Saturday's closing levels of Rs 60.15 and Rs 60.25 on buying and selling counters, respectively. However, at the end of trading the dollar could not sustain and declined to Rs 60.10 and Rs 60.20 on buying and selling sides, respectively, the dealers said.
On the contrary, the rupee remained weak and moved down against the pound sterling. The pound's buying rate improved from previous closing rate of Rs 107.40 to Rs 107.70, while its selling rate increased from Rs 107.75 to Rs 108.00, the dealers added.
The greenback opened at Rs 60 (buying) and Rs 60.20 (selling) against the overnight value of Rs 60.20 (buying) and Rs 60.40 (selling). It did not witness any change in the second session, and closed at Rs 60 (buying) and Rs 60.20 (selling).
Pound sterling opened at Rs 107.50 (buying) and Rs 108 (selling) against the last rate. It did not observe any further change by the end of the second session, and closed at Rs 107.50 (buying) and Rs 108 (selling).