Rupee down

The rupee slightly lowered two paisas against the US dollar on Friday owing to demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said.

The rupee ended down Rs155.90 to a dollar from the previous day’s close of Rs155.88 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said the demand for dollar was due to weekly holidays. They said the rupee lost value in the early trade but strong supply helped the local currency avoid major depreciation during the day.

The foreign currency market started in the range of Rs155.93 and Rs155.95. The market recorded day high of Rs155.97 and low of Rs155.90.

Currency experts said lower imports and improved inflows in terms of export receipts and remittances might help the rupee gain value. On the other side, they said the scheduled repayments against foreign loans might increase dollar demand.

In the open market the exchange rate remained stable. The buying and selling of dollar was recorded at Rs155.70/Rs156.20, the same previous day’s level in cash ready market.

Rupee has come on the stability mode after losing its value against dollar in the past couple of months. Earlier this week, the local currency reached four-month high against the US dollar. The central bank is focusing on market-determined exchange rate to bolster balance of payment.