Rupee may remain range-bound

The rupee is expected to trade range-bound against the dollar in the interbank market next week, traders said. "Trading is expected to remain range-bound with some month-end dollar demand from importers," a currency dealer said.

"The rupee could hover at 121.50/121.55/dollar in the upcoming week. The import payments may put slight pressure on the exchange rate."

The rupee gained 23 paisas to close at 121.50 to the dollar during the outgoing week. The local currency plunged to 122 in an intraday trade on Monday before settling at 121.73.

Dealers said the market is also watching the currency movement. They assume very limited scale of intervention from the central bank in the currency market.

In the open market, the local unit fell to a record low of 125 on Wednesday due to short supply of the greenback.

However, it staged recovery and closed at 124.50 in the open market after the exchange companies decided to fix the dollar rate at the same level.

Traders expect the recent move by the exchange companies to help stabilise the currency in the kerb market.

Pakistan's current account deficit soared 43 percent to $16 billion in 11 months of the currentfiscal year.

The country's foreign exchange reserves rose to $16.798 billion on June 14 from $16.457 billion in previous week.

This increase was due to official inflows from the international financial institutions. The reserves held by the central bank stood at $10.264 billion, compared with $10.066 billion a week ago.