The rupee managed to recover modestly against the dollar on the money market on Monday in the process of trading activity, dealers said. The rupee picked up 2 paisas in relation to the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 138.92 and Rs 138.93 respectively.
Trading volumes were thinning out with most global markets set to shut for Christmas, while Japan was closed on Monday for a holiday.
There was hardly any appetite among investors to take on risk, with a deteriorating outlook for global growth leaving stocks hurtling down for their worst quarterly performance since 2008.
That has attracted bids for the likes of the yen and Swiss franc, considered a safe-bet during times of economic and political stress. They were up about 0.1 percent each on the dollar in Asian trade.
The dollar index, a gauge of its value versus six major peers, lost 0.2 percent to 96.76.
The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 70.238, the greenback was at 4.182 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was available at 6.900 versus the Chinese yuan.
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Open Bid Rs.138.70
Open Offer Rs.139.20
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Bid Rate Rs.138.92
Offer Rate Rs.138.93
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Following lack of buyers' interest in the market, the greenback depreciated by 60 paisas and ended lower for buying and selling at Rs 138.50 and Rs 139.50 against the last closing rates of Rs 139.10 and Rs 140.10 respectively, local currency dealers said.
Similarly, the national currency also followed the same suit in process of trading against the pound sterling. The pound's buying and selling rates decreased from the Saturday's closing of Rs 174.80 and Rs 176.00 to Rs 174.30 and Rs 175.50 respectively, they added.
The dollar opened at Rs 139.10 (buying) and Rs 139.20 (selling) against last rate of Rs 139.70 (buying) and Rs 139.80 (selling). It closed at Rs 139.10 (buying) and Rs 139.20 (selling).
The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold was Rs 67,200 (selling) and Rs 67,000 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.