Firmness prevailed on the money market on Friday as the rupee improved slightly versus the dollar amid the process of trading, dealers said. The rupee held the overnight levels against the dollar for buying and selling at Rs 102.88 and Rs 102.90 respectively, they said.
In the final Asian trade, the yen was off its recent highs on Friday after another choppy session overnight where some calm returned to Wall Street thanks to encouraging US data that helped take the edge off global growth jitters.
Also aiding risk sentiment, the head of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, James Bullard, said the US central bank may want to keep up its bond buying stimulus for now given a drop in inflation expectations. The dollar was at Rs 61.52 against the Indian rupee, the greenback was trading versus the Malaysian ringgit at 3.2765 and the US currency was at 6.1238 in terms of the Chinese yuan.
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Open Bid Rs 102.60
Open Offer Rs 102.80
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Bid Rate Rs 102.88
Offer Rate Rs 102.90
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According to the currency dealers, the dollar resumed commenced trading at its Thursday closing of Rs 102.70 and Rs 102.95 as its buying and selling rates, respectively. The continued demand for dollar led its rate up to Rs 102.75 and Rs 103.00 on buying and selling rates, respectively.
Similarly, the rupee remained under pressure and was declined against the pound sterling. The pound's buying and selling rates were improved form overnight closing of Rs 164.00 and Rs 164.25 to Rs 164.50 and Rs 164.75, respectively, the dealers said.
The dollar opened at Rs 101 (buying) and Rs 101.10 (selling) against same overnight rate. It did not observe further change in the second session and closed at Rs 101 (buying) and Rs 101.10 (selling) against.
Pound Sterling opened at Rs 168 (buying) and Rs 168.10 (selling) against same overnight value. It did not observe further change in the evening session and closed at Rs 168 (buying) and Rs 168.10 (selling).