The rupee hit the new lows versus dollar after crossing the barrier of 64 in the interbank market on Saturday amid rush buying of dollars by the importers, money experts said. The market speculators anticipated it following the sharp rise in the dollar demand by the importers after soaring prices of oil in the international market, they said.
Some currency watchers were expecting that the rupee might see further erosion against dollar and touch the new low at 65 level if the panic buying of dollars continued. Additionally, the policy markers on the economic side will have to take serious, precautionary measures to stop erosion in the Pak rupee value, they said.
The rupee shed 15 paisa in relation to dollar for buying at 64.05 and it also fell by 16 paisa for selling at 64.10 in the interbank market, they observed. At the weekend dollar climbed to a seven-week peak against yen in the New York and moved further away from a record low versus euro after Citigroup's results sparked expectation that the worst of the credit crisis has passed.
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Open Buying Rs 64.60
Open Selling Rs 64.70
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Buying Rs 64.05
Selling Rs 64.10
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The dollar opened on a healthy note because of increase in its demand and kept moving up throughout the day. At the end of trading, the dollar closed higher at Rs 65.00 and Rs 65.15 on buying and selling sides, as against Friday's closing of Rs 64.75 and Rs 65.00. There was no uniformity in the dollar's value as some moneychangers quoted Rs 65.10 and Rs 65.25 as dollar's buying and selling rates, respectively.
Similarly, the rupee remained under pressure and further slipped against the British pound. The pound sterling also finished higher at Rs 128.80 and Rs 129.30 on buying and selling sides, as against Rs 128.20 and Rs 128.80 of Friday.
The dollar opened at Rs 64.30 (buying) and Rs 64.40 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe any change in the evening session and closed at Rs 64.30 (buying) and Rs 64.40 (selling).
Pound sterling opened at Rs 127.30 (buying) and Rs 127.40 (selling) against same last rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 127.30 (buying) and Rs 127.40 (selling).