Pakistani rupee falls vs dollar

There were payments worth at least $100 million today and dollar inflows were soft due to the holidays,said a dealer at a foreign bank.

Looking ahead,dealers said the local currency could face further downward pressure,despite healthy remittances from Pakistanis living abroad,thanks to a widening current account deficit.

Pakistan’s current account deficit surged to a provisional $908 million in September,compared with a deficit of $201 million in August.

The deficit for the July-September quarter was a provisional $1.21 billion,compared with $597 million in the same period last year,according to data from the State Bank of Pakistan.

In the stock market,the index ended nearly flat amid low volumes as most investors preferred to stay on the sidelines.

It looks like most institutions are still in the holiday mood,said Shuja Rizvi,a dealer at brokers Al-Hoqani Securities.

I think the market will remain soft tomorrow as well,and will pick up next week.

The KSE benchmark 100-share index ended only 0.1 per cent,or 11.75 points,higher at 11,969.05. The market was closed for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Volume fell to 48.73 million shares,compared with 55.85 million shares traded in the last session on Friday.

In the money market,overnight rates ended flat at the top level of 11.90 per cent amid tight liquidity in the interbank market.