The rupee managed to hold it's firmness against the dollar in the process of trading, dealers said. The rupee shed two paisas in relation to the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.77 and Rs 104.79 respectively, dealer said.
In the first Asian trade, the yen hit a three-week low on Monday on expectations the Bank of Japan could start lending to banks at negative rates, while sterling hit a five-week high in reaction to President Barack Obama urging Britons to stay in the European Union.
The yen fell to as low as 111.90 in early trade, its lowest level in more than three weeks but Japanese exporters quickly jumped on it to buy the currency, pushing it back to 111.17, up 0.6 percent from late US levels on Friday.
The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 66.68, the US currency was at 3.9100 versus the Malaysian ringgit and the greenback was at 6.5055 in terms of the Chinese yuan. Interbank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Monday: 78.40-78.40 (previous 78.40-78.40.
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Open Bid Rs.105.10
Open Offer Rs.105.30
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Bid Rate Rs.104.77
Offer Rate Rs.104.79
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According to the currency dealers, the dollar could not maintain its position and remained under pressure throughout the day. At close of trading, the dollar ended lower at Rs 105.20 and Rs 105.50 as its buying and selling rates against the Saturday closing rate of Rs 105.35 and Rs 105.55, respectively.
On the contrary, the local currency stayed weak on buying side while it remained unchanged on selling side in relation to the pound sterling. The pound was bought and sold at Rs 150.60 and Rs 151.50 as compared to previous closing of Rs 150.50 and Rs 151.50, respectively, the dealers said.
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).