Rupee records minor improvement against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal increase, appreciating 0.05% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.

At close, the local unit settled at 278.31, a gain of Re0.13 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

On Thursday, the rupee had registered a marginal decline to settle at 278.44 against the US dollar, according to the SBP.

In a key development, the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia director said that the Fund is ready to support Pakistan and the package of reforms is now more important than the size of the new programme.

“I think what is important at this stage is to accelerate the reforms, double down on the structure of reforms in order to provide Pakistan with its full potential of growth,” Jihad Azour told a press conference on the sidelines of the IMF 2024 Spring Meetings.

Internationally, a wave of risk aversion swept over markets on Friday and sent the Australian and New Zealand dollars sharply lower, while the yen found support on safe-haven gains following media reports that explosions had occurred in Iran.

The latest developments sparked greater concern over a widening of the Israeli aggression in the Middle East, prompting a flight to safety as investors swept up typical safe-haven assets like the U.S. dollar and the yen, alongside U.S. Treasuries and gold.

In the broader market, a resurgent dollar headed towards a second straight week of gains as a hotter-than-expected U.S. economy has pushed back investors’ and policymakers’ expectations of the trajectory of Federal Reserve rate cuts.

The greenback’s 0.27% gain for the week was capped by a slight stall in its rally following a rare trilateral warning from finance chiefs in the United States, Japan and South Korea over the two Asian nations’ sliding currencies, raising the risk of a potential joint intervention.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, slipped on Friday after prices spiked earlier on reports that Israel had attacked Iran as market fears of a major escalation to hostilities in the Mideast appeared to ease.

After the benchmark contracts jumped more than $3 in the session, Brent futures were down 46 cents, or 0.5%, at $86.65 a barrel by 1015 GMT. The most active US West Texas Intermediate contract was down 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $82.39.

Israel launched an attack on Iranian soil on Friday, sources told Reuters. Iranian media reported explosions, but an Iranian official told Reuters air defence systems caused those. State media said three drones over the central city of Isfahan had been shot down.

Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Friday

BID                            Rs 278.31

OFFER                      Rs 278.51

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR gained 9.00 paisa for buying and lost 2.00 paisa for selling against USD, closing at 277.11 and 279.68, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR gained 82.00 paisa for buying and 65.00 paisa for selling, closing at 292.74 and 295.60, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 1.00 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 75.11 and 75.81, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR gained 2.00 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 73.21 and 73.89, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Friday

BID                            Rs 277.11

OFFER                      Rs 279.68