Intra-day update: rupee records marginal improvement against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal increase against the US dollar, appreciating 0.04% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At 10:30am, the currency was hovering at 278.05, a gain of Re0.12 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 278.17, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Globally, the US dollar traded in a narrow range on Thursday after hitting a two-week high in the previous session, supported by a rise in US Treasury yields even as market players bet the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

The greenback held on to a hefty portion of the previous day’s gains, helped by a rise in US Treasury yields on Wednesday as the Treasury Department sold long-dated supply and data showed a widening US budget deficit.

Wednesday’s consumer price index (CPI) report for November showed a 0.3% rise, the largest gain since April after advancing 0.2% for four straight months.

Markets now see a 98.6% probability that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points at its Dec. 17-18 meeting, compared with 78.1% a week ago, CME FedWatch tool showed.

Market players will get more US inflation data later in the day when the producer price index (PPI) is published.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were little changed in early Asian trade on Thursday as forecasts of weak demand and a higher-than-expected rise in US gasoline and distillate inventories stemmed gains from an additional round of European Union sanctions that threatened Russian oil flows.

Brent crude futures were down 5 cents at $73.47 a barrel at 0141 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 11 cents to $70.18. Both benchmarks rose over $1 each on Wednesday.

OPEC cut its demand growth forecasts for 2025 for the fifth straight month on Wednesday and by the largest amount yet.

This is an intra-day update