The rupee maintained upward trend against the dollar in the open market on Wednesday in process of trading activity, dealers said.

In the third Asian trade, the pound edged lower on Wednesday after an overnight fall as Brexit hung in the balance, with the British Parliament still divided on how, when or even if to engineer Britain's departure from the European Union.

The yen rose against the US dollar and the Australian dollar as some investors sought a safe haven amid doubts about Brexit and efforts to de-escalate a bruising trade war between the United States and China.

A decline in equities and a rise in US Treasury prices in Asia underscored investors' aversion to taking on big risks as the drama over Britain's departure from the EU grows increasingly complex by the day.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 70.915, the greenback was at 4.192 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was available at 7.083 versus the Chinese yuan.

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Open Bid       Rs.155.50
Open Offer     Rs.156.00
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Bid Rate       Rs.155.87
Offer Rate     Rs.155.89
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According to currency dealers, the greenback did not observe any change as it firmly sustained its opening rate for buying at Rs 155.70 whereas it gained 10 paisas and ended higher for selling at Rs 156.10.

Moreover, the local currency continued upward trend for the second consecutive day against the pound sterling. Consequently, the pound's buying and selling rates further declined from the Tuesday's closing of Rs 200.00 and Rs 201.40 to Rs 199.45 and Rs 200.40 respectively, they added.

The dollar opened at Rs 156.10(buying) and Rs 156.20(selling) against last rate of Rs 156.25(buying) and Rs 156.35(selling).

It closed at Rs 156.10(buying) and Rs 156.20(selling).

The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold were Rs. 87,100 (selling) and Rs 87,000 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.