Rupee gains

The rupee extended gains against the dollar in the second consecutive session on Thursday, helped by dollar selling by exporters, dealers said.

The rupee gained 15 paisas to close at 156.17/dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market. Dealers said the exporters sold dollars that bolstered the currency during the day. In the open market, the rupee increased 10 paisas to end at 156.40 against the greenback.

It finished at 156.50 in the previous trade, according to the rates quoted by the

Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan. Investors were upbeat on the foreign exchange data issued by the central bank on the same day.

However, investors were concerned about the falling trend in workers’ remittances. Remittances from Pakistani workers abroad fell slightly by 1.43 percent to $5.478 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan increased to $7.757 billion during the week ended on October 4 from $7.741 billion a week ago.

The country’s forex reserves stood at $14.992 billion, compared with $15.003 billion in previous week. The forex reserves of commercial banks fell to $7.235 billion from $7.262 billion.