Intra-day update: rupee improves marginally against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee recorded marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.

At 10:10am, the currency was hovering at 277.72, a gain of Re0.12 against the greenback.

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

Globally, the US dollar rallied broadly on Wednesday as early exit polls in the extremely close US presidential election appeared to give an edge to Republican Donald Trump.

The early results were as anticipated, with the contest expected to come down to seven swing states.

Trump’s tariff and immigration policies are seen as inflationary by analysts, buoying the dollar. Mexico and China are among countries that stand to be hardest hit by Trump tariffs.

The dollar index - which measures the currency against six major peers including the euro and yen - rose 0.76% to 104.14 as of 0048 GMT.

Bitcoin climbed more than 3% to $71,317. Trump is seen as more actively supportive of cryptocurrencies than Harris.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell on Wednesday as early poll results in the US election showed Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a tight race for the presidency.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 27 cents, or 0.4%, to trade at $71.72 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures lost 0.35 cents, or 0.46%, to trade at $75.18 per barrel at 0132 GMT.

This is an intra-day update