The rupee traded in a narrow-band versus the dollar on the money market on Thursday in the process of trading, dealers said. The rupee inched up by one paisa against the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.65 and Rs 104.68 respectively, they said.
In the forth Asian trade, the dollar hit a 15-month low against the yen after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen gave investors no reason to change their minds that the next rate hike will be a long time coming. Sticking largely to the script, Yellen made clear on Wednesday that the central bank remained on a path of 'gradual' policy tightening. Yet, she also highlighted growing risks facing the economy.
That gave currency investors the green light to continue the current trading theme - buy the safe-haven yen. As a result, the dollar slid below 113.00 yen for the first time since November 2014 and hit a 15-month low of 112.515 yen. The dollar later pared some of its losses and was last trading at 112.97 yen, down 0.3 percent on the day.
The dollar was available against the Indian rupee at Rs 68.00, the US currency was at 4.1100 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the greenback was at 6.5755 in relation to the Chinese yuan. Inter bank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Thursday: 78.50-78.55 (previous 78.6000-78.6050).
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Open Bid Rs.106.00
Open Offer Rs.106.20
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Bid Rate Rs.104.65
Offer Rate Rs.104.68
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But because of lacking buyers' interest, its selling did decline to Rs 106.70. The rupee did keep going down and remain under pressure against the pound sterling for another day. The pound's buying and selling did improve form the Wednesday closing of Rs 152.80 and Rs 153.50 to Rs 153.00 and Rs 153.70.
The dollar opened at Rs 106 (buying) and Rs 106.20 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 106 (buying) and Rs 106.20 (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).