The Pakistani rupee saw a marginal decline against the US dollar as it depreciated 0.17% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.
At 11:20am, the rupee was hovering at 281.43, a decrease of Re0.48 in the inter-bank market.
On Monday, the rupee had depreciated 0.14% to settle at 280.95 against the US dollar.
In a related development, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in line with the wider market consensus, kept the key policy rate unchanged at 22% on Monday.
“The Committee noted that headline inflation rose in September 2023 as expected. However, it is projected to decline in October and then maintain a downward trajectory, especially in the second half of the fiscal year,” it said in a press release.
Internationally, the US dollar improved 0.7% against the Japanese yen, which past the 150 per dollar threshold to hit an intraday low of 150.12. It later pared some of those losses to stand at 149.95.
Against other currencies, the greenback edged broadly higher, with the dollar index last up 0.22% at 106.39.
While the index looked set to end the month largely unchanged, analysts say the dollar remains underpinned by risks of another rate hike from the Federal Reserve, noting a still-resilient US economy.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose in Asian trade on Tuesday, after a drop of more than 3% in the previous session, as worries over supply stirred by conflict in the Middle East blunted a dismal showing of China data.
December Brent crude futures, set to expire on Tuesday, rose 36 cents, or 0.41%, to stand at $87.81 a barrel by 0305 GMT.
This is an intra-day update
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