Rupee improves slightly against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.02% in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At close, the currency settled at 277.79, a gain of Re0.05 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 277.84, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Internationally, the US dollar held near an 11-week high on Thursday as uncertainty over the upcoming US election looms and as resilience in the US economy added to bets the Federal Reserve will be less aggressive in easing rates versus its peers elsewhere.

The dollar has not only drawn support from a run of upbeat data on the US economy which has in turn caused traders to scale back their expectations of Fed rate cuts, but also on the possibility of a victory by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at next month’s election.

In the broader market, the dollar was on the front foot, after having scaled an 11-week top against a basket of peers in the previous session.

The dollar index was last steady at 103.51, having peaked at 103.60 in the previous session.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were broadly flat on Thursday as investors waited on developments in the Middle East, the release of official US oil inventory data and details on China’s stimulus plans.

Brent crude futures were up 25 cents to $74.47 a barrel at 0834 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $70.64 a barrel, also up 25 cents.

Both benchmarks settled down on Wednesday, closing at their lowest levels since Oct. 2 for a second day in a row, after OPEC and the International Energy Agency cut demand forecasts for 2024 and 2025.