The rupee performed failed to retain its firmness against dollar in the currency market last week ended on July 28, 2007. In the interbank market, the rupee lost three paisa against dollar for buying at 60.42 and four paisa for selling at 60.44.
The rupee was on the same tract in the open market, losing 10 paisa in terms of the US currency at 61.00 and 61.10 for buying and selling respectively, but staged strong recovery versus euro at Rs 82.78 and Rs 82.88, dealers said.
Persisting higher trend in imports pushed up the demand for dollars but high inflows of dollars enabled the rupee to stand firm against its counterpart, analysts said. The other reason was lack of interest from the buyers due to fluctuations in the rupee-dollar parity rates, they observed.
In the meantime, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) weekly statements said that the country's foreign exchange reserves increased by 112 million dollars to 15,575 billion dollars on July 21, 2007.
Rising remittances helped the reserves to stand firm as the country received a record 5.49 billion dollars from overseas workers during fiscal year 2006-07, up by 19.6 percent from previous year.
INTER-BANK MARKET RATES: On Monday, the rupee showed no change against dollar for buying and selling at 60.39 and 60.40. On Tuesday, the rupee maintained its overnight level against the dollar for the second day in a row for buying and selling at 60.39 and 60.40.
On Wednesday, the rupee lost three paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 60.42 and 60.43. On Thursday, the rupee recovered three paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 60.38 and 60.40.
On Friday, the rupee shed two paisa against dollar for buying at 60.40 and two paisa for selling at Rs 60.41. On Saturday, the rupee dropped two paisa in relation to dollar for buying at 60.42 and three paisa for selling at 60.44.
IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET: In the first session of the week, the dollar hit a record low against the euro and more than 20-year lows versus sterling and the New Zealand dollar on worries that problems in the US subprime mortgage sector may trickle into the broader economy. In the second session, in New York market, the dollar was higher against the major currencies. It, however, fell in the Asian market.
In the third session, the dollar did not show any improvement against the yen on fears about worsening US credit market problems and housing sector weakness prompted investors to shun the US currency. During the third session, the dollar managed to show some better performance against the leading currencies.
In the last and final session, the dollar maintained its firmness as it rose in the European markets, rose to the highest level against the euro for more than two weeks, as the market, awaited publication of important US economic growth data.
In early European trading the euro dropped to 1.3659 dollars, the lowest level since July 10. It later stood at 1.3673 dollars, down from 1.3743 late on Thursday in New York.
OPEN MARKET RATES: On July 23, the rupee firmly held its overnight level against dollar for buying and selling at 60.95 and 61.00, dealers said. The rupee shed three paisa against euro for buying at Rs 83.84 and four paisa for selling at Rs 83.94, they said.
On July 24, the rupee recovered five paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 60.90 and 60.95, dealers said. The rupee recovered 14 paisa versus euro for buying and selling at Rs 83.70 and Rs 83.80, they said.
On July 25, the rupee shed two paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 60.92 and 60.97, they said. The rupee firmly held its overnight levels in relation to the euro for buying and selling at Rs 83.70 and Rs 83.80, they said.
On July 26, the rupee shed five paisa against dollar for buying and selling at 60.95 and 61.00, while it did not move to any side versus euro for buying and selling at Rs 83.70 and Rs 83.80, dealers said.
On July 27, the rupee held on to its overnight levels in relation to the dollar for buying and selling at 60.95 and 61.00, they said. It, whoever, gained 38 paisa against euro for buying and selling at Rs 83.32 and Rs 83.42, they said.
On July 28, the rupee lost five paisa against dollar for buying at 61.00 and 10 paisa for selling at 61.10, dealers said. The rupee recovered 54 paisa against euro, for buying and selling at Rs 82.78 and Rs 82.88, they said.