The rupee held the overnight firmness against the dollar on the money market on Wednesday in the process of trading, marketmen said. The rupee gained 40 paisas versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 157.60 and Rs 157.80 respectively, dealers said.
In the third Asian trade, the dollar struggled on Wednesday, having been nudged off two-week highs as fading optimism over any near-term Sino-US trade deal revived safe-haven demand and drove US yields down.
US bond yields also tracked a decline in their British counterparts to 2-1/2-year lows on dovish-sounding comments from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, which in turn weighed on the pound.
The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood at 96.742 after pulling back from 96.875 scaled on Tuesday, its highest since June 20.
The pound was steady at $1.2597 after shedding 0.35% the previous day, when it touched a two-week trough of $1.2584.
The dollar was available against the Indian rupee at Rs 68.868, the US currency was at 4.139 versus the Malaysian ringgit and greenback was at 6.885 in terms of the Chinese yuan.
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Open Bid Rs.156.50
Open Offer Rs.157.50
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Bid Rate Rs.157.60
Offer Rate Rs.157.80
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Following lack of buyers' interest in the market, the greenback remained under selling pressure and ended further lower for buying and selling at Rs 156.00 and Rs 158.30 against the overnight closing trend of Rs 157.50 and Rs 159.00 respectively, local currency dealers said.
Likewise, the national currency also followed the same suit versus the pound sterling. Consequently, the pound's buying and selling rates further declined from the Tuesday's closing of Rs 198.00 and Rs 200.00 to Rs 195.00 and Rs 197.50 respectively, they added.
The dollar opened at Rs 158.90 (buying) and Rs 159(selling) against last rate of Rs 159(buying) and Rs 159.10 (selling). It closed at Rs 158.90 (buying) and Rs 159(selling).
The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold was Rs 77,700 (selling) and Rs 77,000 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.