The local unit was up by eight paisas against the greenback which was trading at Rs279.34 at the closing of the market as against Rs279.42 the previous day.

Meanwhile, the buying and selling rates of the dollar in the open market stood at Rs279 and Rs281.5, respectively.

Last week, Dawn reported that currency experts were wary of shocks in the exchange rate market in March.

They added that the third quarter economic performance would determine the outlook for the last quarter and the entire fiscal year. They were of the view that the inflows of dollars were below market expectations.