Rupee weakens against US dollar

KATHMANDU April 26: Nepali rupee lost value against US dollar this week after Indian currency, with which rupee is pegged, weakened against greenback. Gold, however, became dearer by Rs 2,145 per 10 grams, after the yellow metal glittered in the international market.[break]



Currency

Nepali rupee shed 31 paisa against US dollar over the week rendering imports expensive but raising receipts of exporters as well as remittance receivers. On Friday, a US dollar was exchanged at Rs 87.05.



Currency trading had opened this week with exchange rate of US dollar set at Rs 86.74 on Sunday. Rupee gained a marginal 9 paisa on Monday to close the market at Rs 86.65 on Monday. But as gold importers in India placed huge demand for the greenback, Indian currency fell, causing rupee to shed 28 paisa on Tuesday and another 33 paisa on Wednesday to close at Rs 87.26 on Wednesday.



According to Reuters, there is a heavy demand from gold importers after prices of the yellow metal fell. “The bias is towards rupee appreciation, but there seems to be a lot of dollar demand at current levels.”



Though rupee´s value remained unchanged on Thursday, it gained 21 paisa on Friday to close at Rs 87.05.



Nepali rupee shed 43 paisa against euro and Rs 1.54 against British Pound this week. On Friday, euro was traded at Rs 113.78 while the British Pound was valued Rs 134.36.



Bullion

Gold became dearer by Rs 2,145 per 10 grams over the week. The weekly report published by Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Associations shows that the price of gold, which saw a sharp drop last week, gained value almost throughout the week.



Bullion trading opened on Sunday with gold priced at Rs 43,295 per 10 grams. Gold became dearer by Rs 260 per 10 grams on Monday and another Rs 170 per 10 grams on Tuesday to close at Rs 43,725 per 10 grams respectively.



On Wednesday, gold price increased by Rs 430 per 10 grams to reach Rs 44,155 per 10 grams. The yellow metal gained another Rs 425 per 10 grams on Thursday. On Friday, the price increased by a whopping Rs 860 per 10 grams to close the week´s trading at Rs 45,440 per 10 grams.



Price of silver increased by 17 paisa per 10 grams this week. Silver was traded at Rs 780 per 10 grams on Friday.

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