Rupee registers some gain against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At close, the local unit settled at 278.30, a gain of Re0.17 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

On Wednesday, the rupee had closed at 278.47, down by Re0.08.

The rupee has largely been stable around this rate for months with Pakistan eager to sign up for another bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after its previous $3-billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) ended.

An IMF mission, led by Nathan Porter, began discussions, but details are yet to finalised. The new IMF programme is also being seen as crucial to maintain currency stability.

Globally, the US dollar hovered near a one-week high on Thursday following its best day this month against its major peers after minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting revealed a willingness to raise interest rates among some officials.

The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six major rivals including the euro, sterling, and yen, was little changed at 104.89 after gaining 0.28% overnight.

Minutes released on Wednesday from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting showed the US central bank’s response to sticky inflation would “involve maintaining” its policy rate for now but also reflected discussion of possible further hikes.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, eased for a fourth straight session on Thursday after the minutes of a US Federal Reserve meeting revealed discussions of a further tightening of interest rates if inflation remained sticky, a move that could hurt oil demand.

Brent crude futures fell 20 cents, or 0.2%, to $81.70 a barrel at 0651 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures were down 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $77.28.

Both benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wednesday.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 278.30

OFFER                      Rs 278.50

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR lost 5 paise for buying and 1 paisa for selling against USD, closing at 277.05 and 279.55, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR gained 94 paise for buying and 91 paise for selling, closing at 298.32 and 301.16, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 1 paisa for buying and gained 1 paisa for selling, closing at 75.21 and 75.94, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 1 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 73.47 and 74.15, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 277.05

OFFER                      Rs 279.55