Rupee seen range-bound

The rupee is likely to remain range-bound next week due to the lack of market triggers, traders said.

“We don’t see a near-term volatility in the rupee. The currency is unlikely to cross the current level of 134 at least in the coming week,” a trader said.

The rupee traded flat at 133.99 against the dollar during the entire week in the interbank market. However, the rupee fell 0.67 percent to 135.10 against the dollar in the open market.

“The rupee came under renewed pressure on short supply of the greenback. Exporters are unwilling to sell dollars on assuming further slide in the exchange rate in the near future,” said Zafar Paracha, the secretary general of Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan.

“Market expects the rupee to depreciate to 140-145 within the next two months.” Investor sentiment was bearish on delay in the IMF bailout package for the country.

Investors were wounded by the announcement that Pakistan was unable to reach an immediate agreement with the International Monetary Fund over a bailout package, to help resolve the country’s economic challenges, according to a report issued by a brokerage.

“The market even refused to react positively to the news that foreign exchange reserves surged more than $1 billion week-on-week to $8.3 billion for the week. This was the first time in 13 weeks that the reserves have increased WoW,” Topline report published on Friday said.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves increased to $14.722 billion after the government received $1 billion from Saudi Arabia under the financial support package.