The rupee almost maintained the last levels against the dollar on the money market on Wednesday in the process of trading, currency experts said. The rupee held the overnight levels in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 111.70 and selling at Rs 112.00 respectively, they said.
In the third Asian trade, the dollar stood near a three-week high against a basket of currencies on Wednesday, after upbeat views from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the economy encouraged bets on further Fed interest rate hikes this year.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, last traded at 90.395, after hitting a high of 90.498 on Tuesday, its strongest level in almost three weeks.
The dollar was available against the Indian rupee at Rs 65.073, the greenback was at 3.923 in relation to the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was at 6.328 versus the Chinese yuan.
Inter bank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Wednesday: 82.96-82.96 (Previous 82.96-82.96).
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Open Bid Rs 111.70
Open Offer Rs 112.00
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Bid Rate Rs 110.58
Offer Rate Rs 110.59
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According to currency dealers, the dollar resumed trading on its overnight closing of Rs 111.60 and Rs 112.10 as its buying and selling rates, respectively.
At the close, it picked up by 20 paisas for buying at Rs 111.80. However, it did not witness any change and firmly held its opening trend for selling at Rs 112.10, they added.
In addition, the national currency maintained upward trend for the second consecutive day versus the pound sterling. The pound's buying and selling rates further rose from Tuesday's closing of Rs 154.70 and Rs 155.80 to Rs 154.00 and Rs 155.30 respectively, they said.
The dollar opened at Rs 111.70 (buying) and Rs 111.80 (selling) against last rate of Rs 111.85 (buying) and Rs 111.95 (selling). It closed at Rs 111.70 (buying) and Rs 111.80 (selling).