The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.08% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday.
At 10:45am, the currency was hovering at 277.63, a gain of Re0.22 against the greenback.
On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 277.85, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Globally, the US dollar stood at a one-year high against major peers on Thursday and headed for a fifth straight daily gain fuelled by higher yields and Donald Trump’s election victory.
The greenback climbed above 156 yen for the first time since July.
Higher trade tariffs and tighter immigration under the incoming Trump administration are projected to fuel inflation, potentially slowing the Federal Reserve’s rate cutting cycle longer term.
Expectations for deeper deficit spending are lifting Treasury yields, providing the dollar with additional support.
Cryptocurrency bitcoin also shot to a fresh record high of $93,480 overnight, and was rising back towards that level in Asia’s day.
The US dollar index, which measures the currency against six top counterparts including the euro and yen, added 0.2% to 106.69, its highest since early November 2023.
The dollar had dipped briefly on Wednesday after a measure of US consumer inflation met economists’ forecasts, keeping the Fed on track to reduce rates at their meeting in December.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, slipped in early trade on Thursday, reversing most of the previous session’s gains, weighed down by worries of higher global production amid slow demand growth, with a firmer dollar exacerbating the declines.
Brent crude futures fell 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $71.93 a barrel by 0400 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures declined 42 cents, or 0.6%, to $68.01.
This is an intra-day update
Read the full story at the Business Recorder - Latest News website.
