KATHMANDU, Oct 19: Nepali rupee weakened against US dollar over this week as well, as demand for the greenback went up in India - with which currency rupee is pegged - due to rise in demand for dollars by oil firms.
Gold continued to rally and became expensive by Rs 303 per tola (11.664 grams) as global investors showed little confidence in currency markets in the pretext of European leaders´ talks on Spain bailout.
Currency
Nepali rupee fell by 49 paisa against a US dollar over the week, making imports expensive. But this raised receipts for exporters and remittance receivers, bringing joy to them ahead of the festive holidays. On Friday, a dollar was exchanged at Rs 85.09.
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), country´s monetary authority, had opened the trading Sunday with exchange rate of dollar set at Rs 84.60. As demand by oil importers strengthened dollar in India, rupee fell by 20 paisa on Monday and plummeted by another 40 paisa on Tuesday. But rupee rebounded and gained 21 paisa on Wednesday and further strengthened by 8 paisa against on Thursday. However, it shed 18 paisa against a US dollar when the market closed this week on Friday.
Likewise, rupee weakened by Rs 2.03 against a euro and Rs 1.89 against a pound sterling over the week. A euro was exchanged at Rs 111.54 on Friday, while a pound sterling closed at Rs 137.49 this week.
Bullion
Despite initial drop, gold became expensive by Rs 260 per ten grams (that is Rs 303 per tola) this week as gloom in the global currency markets and weakening of rupee caused its import cost to go up. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 50,970 per 10 grams on Friday.
Bullion trading had opened this week with gold priced at Rs 50,710 per 10 grams on Sunday. Though the price remained unchanged on Monday, gold shed Rs 85 per 10 grams on Tuesday and fell by another Rs 45 per 10 grams on Wednesday.
However, as news on upcoming talks on Spain bailout, which is scheduled for next month, cast gloom in the currency markets, yellow metal became expensive by Rs 200 per 10 grams on Thursday and further went up by Rs 190 per 10 grams when the market closed for almost a weeklong Dashain festival on Friday.
The price of silver, meanwhile, dropped by Rs 13 per 10 grams this week. Silver was traded at Rs 986 per 10 grams on Friday.
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