LAST week, the dollar dipped to a six-week low against other currencies due to pressure on political uncertainty arising after President Trump’s ultimatum to his party regarding health-care vote in the Congress.

In the local currency market, the rupee held steady against the dollar, owing to sufficient liquidity and lower demand for the foreign exchange.

The rupee/dollar parity traded flat at Rs104.85 and Rs104.86 throughout the week and did not show any change over the previous week’s closing levels. The dollar closed without any change in value on the interbank.

In the last trading session, the interbank market witnessed a modest change. The rupee inched up by one paisa against the dollar to close the week at Rs104.84 and Rs104.85.

The rupee held steady against the dollar, owing to sufficient liquidity and lower demand for the foreign exchange, in the local currency market

Market participants remained in sidelines ahead of SBP monetary policy meeting. During the week, the dollar on the interbank market lost one paisa against the rupee on WoW basis.

In March so far, the rupee has depicted an appreciation of 0.01pc against the dollar amid range-bound trading.

The open market witnessed minor changes last week. The rupee posted a 20 paisas gain in the first trading session and traded against the dollar at Rs106.30 and Rs106.50 against the last closing at Rs106.50 and Rs106.70.

The dollar rebounded against the rupee in the second trading session when it staged a 10 paisas recovery and traded slightly higher at Rs106.40 and Rs106.60, a level last seen on March 17.

The parity remained unchanged in the third trading session and continued to trade flatly for the second straight day at Rs106.40 and Rs106.60 due to comparatively less than usual demand from the corporate sector.

The rupee continued to trade unchanged against the dollar for the third straight day and closed flat at Rs106.40 and Rs106.60 due to lack of buying interest amid sluggish trading activities.

On WoW basis, the dollar in the open market lost 10 paisas against the rupee during the week in review.

The rupee weakened vs euro, hovering in narrow band last week and shed 25 paisas in the first trading session, changing hands against the euro at Rs114 and Rs115.50.

During the week, the euro managed to gain Rs1.05 on the buying counter and another Rs1.55 on the selling counter in three sessions while it lost 50 paisas on the buying counter and 100 paisas on the selling counter in one session.

On WoW basis, the rupee suffered 55 paisas loss against the euro in the week.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, March 27th, 2017