Intra-day update: rupee registers marginal gain against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market during the opening hours of trading on Friday.

At 10:45am, the currency was hovering at 278.88, a gain of Re0.09 against the greenback.

The rupee had closed at 278.97 on Thursday.

Internationally, the yen was on track for its best monthly start to the year since 2018 on Friday, helped by the view that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to keep raising rates this year while its global peers elsewhere look to ease policy.

The Mexican peso and Canadian dollar were on guard ahead of a looming February 1 deadline which US President Donald Trump has said would be the date he imposes 25% tariffs on imports from the two countries.

The loonie languished near a five-year low at C$1.4490 and was set for a weekly decline of 1%.

Mexico’s peso was recovering from its steep fall from the previous session and last stood at 20.6849 per dollar, though it remained on track for its worst weekly performance since October with a roughly 2% fall.

Data on Friday showed core inflation in Tokyo hit 2.5% to mark the fastest annual pace in nearly a year, reinforcing expectations of further rate hikes.

In the broader market, the dollar rose 0.1% to 108.18 against a basket of currencies but was on track for a slight monthly loss of 0.3%.

Data on Thursday showed US economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter, though consumer spending increased at its fastest pace in nearly two years.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Friday as markets weigh the threat of tariffs by Trump on Mexico and Canada, the two largest crude exporters to the US, that could take effect this weekend.

Brent crude futures for March, which expires on Friday, gained 38 cents at $77.25 a barrel at 0110 GMT.

The more active April contract was at $76.23 a barrel, up 34 cents.

US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained 49 cents to $73.22.

For the week, Brent is set to fall 1.6% while WTI has declined 2%. However, for January Brent is set to gain 3.6%, its best month since June, and WTI is set to climb 2%.

This is an intra-day update