The rupee managed to get rid of overnight weakness against the dollar on the money market on Friday in the process of trading activity, dealers said.

In the fourth Asian trade, the dollar hovered near a six-month high versus the Japanese yen while the Australian dollar climbed to its strongest since July on Friday, buoyed by easing Sino-US trade tensions.

The optimism around prospects for a Phase 1 trade deal reduced demand for safe-haven currencies such as the yen, but with global currency markets in a holiday mood after Christmas Day on Wednesday, overall trading activity was mostly subdued.

Beijing said on Wednesday it is in close touch with Washington on a trade deal signing ceremony, a day after US President Donald Trump said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a ceremony to sign the agreement.

Overnight, the dollar rose to as high as 109.68 yen against the safe-haven Japanese currency, a one-week high and not far from 109.73 yen, its late May peak brushed earlier this month. In late Asian trade, the pair was last quoted at 109.50 yen, down 0.1% on the day.

The dollar was trading against the Indian rupee at Rs 71.265, the greenback was at 4.129 in terms of the Malaysian ringgit and the US currency was available at 6.999 versus the Chinese yuan.

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Open Bid       Rs 154.60
Open Offer     Rs 155.00
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Bid Rate       Rs 155.00
Offer Rate     Rs 155.05
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According to currency dealers, the short supply phenomenon of the greenback prevailed throughout the trading session which helped its appreciation for buying and selling at Rs 154.90 and Rs 155.40 against the overnight closing rate of Rs 154.60 and Rs 155.10 respectively.

Likewise, the national currency also followed the suit in relation to the pound sterling that was bought and sold at Rs 200.80 and Rs 202.00 versus the Thursday's closing trend of Rs 198.90 and Rs 199.90 respectively, they added.

The dollar opened at Rs 155.40 (buying) and Rs 155.50 (selling) against last rate of Rs 155 (buying) and Rs 155.10 (selling).

It closed at Rs 155.40 (buying) and Rs 155.50 (selling).

The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold were Rs 84,400 (selling) and Rs 84,200 (buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.