The rupee managed to recover sharp gains against the dollar on the money market on Wednesday following the news that Saudi Arabia has offered a six billion dollars rescue package for the country's economy, dealers said. There are higher expectations that ailing economy may take a lift and depict significant developments after this news in the coming days, marketmen said.
In the third Asian trade, the safe-haven Japanese yen and the Swiss franc held firm against the US dollar on Wednesday as risk-averse investors trimmed their exposure to the greenback in the face of a weak performance on Wall Street.
Worries about US corporate earnings knocked the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 on Tuesday, though they had pared losses by the closing bell.
While the dollar is also considered a safe haven currency, weakness in US equities has tended to undercut its appeal especially as talk of a peak in US corporate earnings has raised concerns about the outlook for economic growth.
The Japanese yen was steady at 112.43 in early Asian trade, having gained 0.32 percent on Tuesday and was the best performing currency in the G-10 space in that session.
The US dollar index, a gauge of its value against six major peers, was wobbly in early Asia trade. It was last slightly lower at 95.94. The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 73.565, the greenback was at 4.161 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was available at 6.936 versus the Chinese yuan.
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Open Bid Rs.131.30
Open Offer Rs.131.80
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Bid Rate Rs.132.00
Offer Rate Rs.132.25
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The dollar commenced trading on a negative note and kept on declining for the third consecutive day amidst lack of buyers' interest in the market. Consequently, it further ended lower for buying and selling at Rs 131.50 and Rs 132.50 against the overnight closing trend of Rs 133.20 and Rs 134.20 respectively, local currency dealers said.
Versus the pound sterling, the national currency also followed the same suit. The pound's buying and selling rates further declined from Tuesday's closing of Rs 172.00 and Rs 173.00 to Rs 167.50 and Rs 169.00 respectively, they added.
The dollar opened at Rs 131.50(buying) and Rs 131.60(selling) against last rate of Rs 133.70(buying) and Rs 133.80(selling). It closed at Rs 131.50(buying) and Rs 131.60(selling).
The buying and selling rates of gold were at Rs 61,700 per tola (selling) and at Rs 61,500(buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.