The Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.
At 10am, the local unit was hovering at 278.42, a gain of Re0.20 against the greenback.
On Monday, the rupee had closed at 278.62 after a fall of Re0.11.
In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar as Pakistan moves forward with its plan to win a longer and larger International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.
Globally, the US dollar edged a touch higher in the broader market.
The dollar was last 0.04% higher at 159.64 yen, just a whisker away from the 160 level that prompted a 9.79 trillion yen ($61.33 billion) currency intervention from Tokyo in late April and early May.
In the broader market, the dollar was on the front foot ahead of Friday’s release of the US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index – the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Sterling edged 0.01% lower to $1.2683, while the Australian dollar fell 0.02% to $0.6655.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar steadied at 105.49.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were little changed on Tuesday after rising in the previous session as investors were cautious ahead of US consumer price data even as expected summer demand increases supported the market.
Brent futures for August settlement rose 5 cents to $86.06 a barrel at 0440 GMT after gaining 0.9% in trading on Monday.
US crude futures for August delivery was up 6 cents to $81.69 a barrel after climbing 1.1% previously. Both benchmarks rose about 3% last week, marking two straight weeks of gains.
Gasoline demand is rising and oil and fuel stockpiles have declined as the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer, enters the peak summer consumption period.
This is an intra-day update
Read the full story at the Business Recorder - Latest News website.
