Rising trend prevails

RECORDER REVIEW

KARACHI: The rupee managed to recover against the dollar on the money market during the week, ended on Saturday, Feb 6, 2016.

In the inter-bank market, the rupee picked up 38 paisas in relation to the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.55 and Rs 104.57.

In the open market, the rupee rose by 60 paisas in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 105.90 and Rs 106.10. The national currency, however, lost 70 paisas versus the euro for buying and selling at Rs 116.70 and Rs 117.70.

The rupee rose moderately against the dollar on the back of smooth supply of dollars, so it appeared that the rupee may be able to keep firmness in the coming days, experts said.

INTER-BANK MARKET: On Monday, the rupee shed three paisas against the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.93 and Rs 104.95 due to rising demand of the US currency. On Tuesday, the rupee recovered its overnight losses, gaining three paisas against the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.90 and Rs 104.93. On Wednesday, the rupee posted fresh gains of 11-paisa versus the dollar due to easy supply of US currency for buying and selling at Rs 104.79 and Rs 104.82 respectively.

On Thursday, the rupee posted fresh gains of 25 paisas in relation to the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 104.55 and Rs 104.57. Rates were not issued on Friday (5 February) due to public holiday.

OPEN MARKET RATES: On Feb 1, the rupee lost 10 paisas in terms of the dollar for buying at Rs 106.50 and the national currency dropped by five paisas for selling at Rs 106.70. The rupee also dropped by 20 paisas against the euro for buying and selling at Rs 116.00 and Rs 117.00.

On Feb 2, the rupee was unmoved in terms of the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 106.50 and Rs 106.70. The rupee lost 50 paisas against the euro for buying and selling at Rs 116.50 and Rs 117.50.

On Feb 3, the rupee was higher by 10-paisa against the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 106.40 and Rs 106.60 respectively. At the same time, the rupee picked up 50 paisas in terms of euro for buying and selling at Rs 116.00 and 117.00.

On Feb 4, the rupee took a boost from the inter-bank trend, picking up 25 paisas versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 106.20 and Rs 106.40. The rupee, however, lost Rs 1.50 to Rs 117.50 and Rs 118.50.

On Feb 6, the rupee picked up 30 paisas versus the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 105.90 and Rs 106.10, respectively. The rupee also gained 80 paisas against the euro for buying and selling at Rs 116.70 and Rs 117.70.

WORLD VALUE OF DOLLAR: In the first Asian trade, the yen nursed broad losses and the euro was also on the defensive after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) adopted negative interest rates and sent bond yields sliding across the globe and particularly in Europe. The dollar was up 0.2 percent at 121.30 yen, after having jumped nearly 2 percent on Friday-its biggest one-day rally in over a year.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 67.65, the US currency was at 4.1550 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the greenback was at 6.5793 in relation to the Chinese Yuan.

Inter bank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Monday. 78.50-78.55 (previous 78.50-78.50).

In the second Asian trade, the Yen edged higher as a fall in oil prices weighed on equities and risk appetite, while the Australian dollar slipped after the country’s central bank held rates steady but left the door open to further easing.

The dollar fell 0.5 percent to 120.44 yen, backing away from a one-month high of 121.70 yen set on Friday in the wake of the Bank of Japan’s surprise adoption of negative interest rates.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 67.90, the US currency was at 4.2080 in relation to the Malaysian Ringgit and the greenback was at 6.5793 in terms of the Chinese Yuan. Inter bank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Tuesday. 78.57-78.60 (previous 78.50-78.55).

In the third Asian trade, emerging Asian currencies slumped on Wednesday as oil prices extended losses and sparked a rush out of risk assets, sending the South Korean won to a 5-1/2-year low.

Indonesia’s rupiah lost one percent as foreign banks sold, while some of the country’s bonds also fell.

The Malaysian ringgit slid as offshore funds unloaded the unit on concerns about sliding oil and gas prices affecting government revenue.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 68.23, the US currency was at 4.2380 in relation to the Malaysian Ringgit and the greenback was at 6.5799 in terms of the Chinese Yuan.

In the forth Asian trade, the dollar nursed hefty losses against the Yen and euro after tumbling overnight when a top Federal Reserve official tempered expectations on the timing of future US interest rate increases.

The US currency took a beating on Wednesday after New York Fed President William Dudley said financial conditions were considerably tighter and a weakening outlook for the global economy would have to be taken into account.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 67.85, the greenback was at 4.1520 versus the Malaysian Ringgit and the US currency was at 6.5778 against the Chinese Yuan.

Inter bank buy/sell rates for the taka against the dollar on Thursday. 78.677-78.70 (previous 78.63-78.65.

At the week-end, the US dollar rebounded against a basket of major currencies on Friday after data showed a pickup in US wages in January, suggesting greater inflation and denting the view that the Federal Reserve would not hike interest rates at all this year.

Average hourly earnings increased 12 cents, or 0.5 percent, last month, leaving the year-on-year gain in earnings at 2.5 percent, US Labour Department data showed.

The wage data was enough to drive the dollar higher even though non-farm payrolls increased by just 151,000 jobs last month, below the 190,000 that economists in a Reuters poll had expected. The dollar had plummeted in the past two sessions on the view that weak domestic economic data and worries over the global economy could prevent the Fed from hiking rates this year. Comments perceived as dovish from New York Fed president William Dudley to MNI on Wednesday had also hurt the dollar.