The Pakistani rupee was largely unchanged against the US dollar, depreciating 0.01% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.
At 10am, the rupee was hovering at 278.42, a decline by Re0.03 against the greenback.
On Tuesday, the rupee had also closed at 278.39, down by Re0.09.
In a key development, the National Accounts Committee (NAC) approved provisional growth of gross domestic product (GDP) at 2.38% for the ongoing fiscal year 2023-24 against the budgetary projection of 3.5%.
Globally, the US dollar was steady against a handful of peers on Wednesday, as the market assessed calls for patience from Federal Reserve officials and awaited the publication of Fed minutes for more insight on the central bank’s path.
With little to drive the market in terms of economic data this week, major currencies continued to move in a tight range.
Investors have been shoring up rate cut bets after a milder inflation reading last week boosted expectations for US rate cuts this year.
Following a slew of Fed officials striking a cautious note, markets had about 43 basis points (bps) of easing priced in versus last week’s high of 52 bps.
Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar index was firm at 104.61 against a basket of currencies, after popping up briefly to 104.76 overnight.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell for a third straight session on Wednesday on expectations the Federal Reserve might keep US interest rates higher for longer due to sustained inflation, potentially impacting fuel use in the world’s largest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, to $82.28 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures slipped 64 cents, or 0.8%, to $78.02 as of 0346 GMT on Wednesday.
Oil prices settled about 1% lower on Tuesday.
This is an intra-day update
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