Rupee declines

KARACHI: The rupee weakened further for the fifth consecutive session on Friday due to sustained high dollar demand from importers, with rising coronavirus cases in the country also hurting the sentiment, dealers said.

The rupee closed at 153.87 against the dollar, down from 153.46 on Thursday. It lost 0.27 percent during the session.

In the open market too, the rupee ended weaker, breaching the 153 level against the dollar. It closed at 154.20/dollar, compared with 153.80 in the previous session.

“There were some inflows from remittances, but the demand was pretty high, which kept the rupee under pressure,” a dealer said.

“Apart from importers, an increased demand for the greenback came from the multinational companies, which repatriated profits and dividends following the end of the first-quarter earnings season,” he added.

Traders were concerned about the surging coronavirus infections in the country. They thought the economic activity could be impacted if the government would further tighten the COVID-19 restrictions over fears of the sharp increase in positive cases in different cities. Analysts said the rupee appreciated a bit too much. Import payments are pulling up the dollar again.

Dealers said they expect the rupee to face more pressure in the coming days due to the high dollar demand for import payments.