The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday.
At 10:20am, the currency was hovering at 277.50, a gain of Re0.19 against the US dollar.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 277.69, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Globally, the US dollar wobbled on Friday and looked set for a third straight month of declines as investors weighed US data to gauge the pace of interest rate cuts, while China’s spree of stimulus measures kept risk-sensitive currencies aloft.
Data on Thursday suggested the US labour market remained fairly healthy, while other reports showed corporate profits increased at a more robust pace than initially thought in the second quarter, highlighting an upbeat economic outlook.
The US dollar, however, remained on the back foot as traders priced in 73 basis points (bps) of easing for the rest of the year, with a 51% chance for another outsized half-percentage-point cut, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
The Federal Reserve has recently signalled a shift in focus away from inflation and towards keeping the labour market healthy, delivering a larger-than-usual 50 bps interest rate cut last week.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was last at 100.69, not far from the 14-month low of 100.21 it touched on Wednesday.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, eased for a third day on Friday and were on track to fall for the week as investors focused on expectations of increased output from Libya and the broader OPEC+ group, although fresh stimulus from top importer China limited losses.
Brent crude futures fell 20 cents, or 0.28%, to $71.40 per barrel as of 0433 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 14 cents, or 0.21%, to $67.53.
On a weekly basis, Brent crude was set to shed 4%, while WTI was on track to slide 6%.
This is an intra-day update
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