Intra-day update: rupee strengthens against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.12% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday.

At 10:40am, the currency was hovering at 277.63, a gain of Re0.32 against the greenback.

On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 277.95, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Globally, the US dollar took a breather on Friday, on track to cap off a wild week with a slight gain as markets weighed the impact of Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House and what that would mean for the US economy and its rate outlook.

The dollar further unwound some of its sharp gains from earlier in the week as traders closed out profitable bets on a Trump presidency after his election victory.

That helped lift sterling back toward the $1.30 mark, while the yen similarly got some respite and hovered closer to the 153 per dollar level.

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Thursday as its policymakers began taking stock of what could become a more complex economic landscape when President-elect Donald Trump takes office next year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the results of Tuesday’s presidential election, which paved the way for a US chief executive who has pledged widespread deportation of immigrants, broad-based tariffs, and tax cuts, would have no “near-term” impact on US monetary policy.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell slightly on Friday as the risk that a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico will affect US oil and gas output declined while the market continues to weigh how President-elect Donald Trump’s policies might affect supplies.

Brent crude oil futures fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $75.37 per barrel by 0209 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 35 cents or 0.5% to $72.01.

The benchmarks fell after rising nearly 1% on Thursday.

This is an intra-day update