PSX sheds over 1,000 points
Dollar reached another high against the rupee on Monday, climbing past Rs194 in the interbank market on Monday.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the greenback gained Rs1.30 from Friday’s close to reach Rs194.30 around 11:30am in the interbank trade. The dollar closed at Rs194.60, or Rs1.60 up from Friday’s close. This development comes after a week of the rupee hitting new lows, mainly due to the country’s rising import bill. Previous week’s data from the FAP showed that the dollar had risen to record highs against the rupee for five consecutive days, with the international currency hitting a high of Rs188.66 in the interbank market last Tuesday, then soaring to Rs190.90 on Wednesday, rising past Rs192 on Thursday and reaching Rs193.10 on Friday.
When the PML-N-led coalition government took over on April 11, the dollar was valued at Rs182.3. Since then, the rupee has lost Rs11.4 or 6.2 per cent Meanwhile, bears were in firm control of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed 1061.98 points in the first hour of trading. According to the PSX website, the KSE-100 Index opened at 43,486.46 points and immediately fell by 806.95 points. By 10:05am, the index had plummeted 1,111.07 points to 42,375.39, down 2.55 per cent.
