Firmness prevailed on the money market on Friday as the rupee firmly held the overnight levels against the dollar in the process of trading, dealers said. The rupee shed one-paisa versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.42 and Rs 104.44 respectively, they said.
In the final Asian trade, the Australian dollar hit a six-week high and emerging Asian currencies rallied, as the greenback came under pressure due to increasing doubts that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
Commodity currencies and emerging Asian currencies have enjoyed a banner week as many investors pushed back expectations for the timing of Fed lift-off into next year after last week's lacklustre US jobs data. The dollar was available against the Indian rupee at Rs 64.83, the greenback was at 4.1200 versus the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency at 6.348 in terms of the Chinese yuan.
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Open Bid Rs 104.40
Open Offer Rs.104.60
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Bid Rate Rs.104.42
Offer Rate Rs.104.44
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Currency dealers said the dollar resumed trading at Rs 104.60 and Rs 104.90 on the buying and selling counters, respectively, as against Rs 104.55 and Rs 104.80 on Saturday. At the close, the dollar lost its worth closing at Rs 104.50 and Rs 104.80 on the buying and selling counters, respectively. The British pound depreciated its worth against the local currency, which was purchased and sold at Rs 158.80 and Rs 160.00 as against Saturday's closing rates of Rs 158.60 and Rs 159.20, the dealers added.
The dollar opened at Rs 104 (buying) and Rs 104.25 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 104 (buying) and Rs 104.25 (selling). Pound Sterling opened at Rs 158 (buying) and Rs 158.50 (selling) against same overnight value. It did not observe further change in the evening session and closed at Rs 158 (buying) and Rs 158.50 (selling).