Rupee closes at 228 against dollar in interbank
The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s(PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index on Friday plunged by more than 290 points during intraday trading, but later recovered to close above the 40,000-mark that was breached on Thursday.
According to the PSX website, stocks initially started in the green. However as the day progressed, the index bottomed out at 39,541 by 11:30am, sliding 290.75 points from yesterday’s close of 39,831.75.
The index then made a slight recovery, reaching 39,726.48 points before the prayer break. By closing time, the index climbed further to 40,077.30 points. The cumulative change was a positive 0.62 per cent.
The rupee continued to lose ground against the dollar on Friday, hitting yet another record low of Rs228 interbank trade as concerns remained over the exchange rate volatility and analysts called for the government and central bank’s intervention. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the rupee depreciated 75 paise — a slump of 0.33pc — against the previous day’s close of Rs227.75 to reach Rs228.50 by 12:35pm.
