The dollar, on the back of rising its demand, managed to recover further ground on the money market on Friday, currency experts said. Commenting on the slide of the national currency they said that the rupee may halt its slide in the near future.
As was expected, not in a very surprising way, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10 percent from 10.5 percent to revive industrial and business activity in the country, experts said.
In the final Asian trade, the euro inched down but stayed near a two-week high versus the dollar on Friday, finding support after the European Central Bank said the previous day that it was ready to buy bonds of troubled euro zone members.
The yen briefly nudged higher after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged and held off from additional easing measures. The reaction was limited, however, as Friday's decision was in line with expectations. The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 51.67, the greenback was at 3.0520 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was available at 6.284 against the Chinese yuan.
========================
Open Buying Rs 95.45
Open Selling Rs 95.65
========================
========================
Bid Rate Rs 95.46
Offer Rate Rs 95.58
========================
According to the currency dealers, the dollar's demand remained intact that helped its appreciation against the dollar. The dollar was closed higher at Rs 95.20 and Rs 95.40 as its buying and selling rates against the Thursday closing of Rs 95.10 and Rs 95.25, respectively, the dealers said.
Likewise, the rupee remained under pressure and was further depreciated against the pound sterling. The pound was purchased and sold at Rs 153.40 and Rs 153.80 as compared to day earlier closing of Rs 152.90 and Rs 153.40, respectively, they added.
The dollar opened at Rs 94.50 (buying) and Rs 94.60 (selling) against overnight value of Rs 94.40 (buying) and Rs 94.50 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe further change in the evening session and closed at Rs 94.40 (buying) and Rs 94.50 (selling).
Pound Sterling opened at Rs 151.90 (buying) and Rs 153 (selling) against last rate of Rs 150 (buying) and Rs 150.10 (selling) against same previous rate. It did not observe further change in the evening session and closed at Rs 151.90 (buying) and Rs 153 (selling).
The buying and selling rates of Euro remained Rs 121.60 and Rs 122 respectively in both morning and evening sessions.