Rupee slips lower against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline, depreciating 0.04% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.

At close, the local unit settled at 278.51, a loss of Re0.11 against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

On Tuesday, the local unit had settled at 278.40 against the US dollar.

In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar as Pakistan moves forward with its plan to win a longer and larger International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

Internationally, the US dollar was on the front foot on Wednesday having rebounded from a three-week low after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell struck a cautious tone on how soon interest rate cuts would come.

In the first day of his testimony to Congress overnight, Powell said a rate cut is not appropriate until the Fed gains “greater confidence” inflation is headed toward the 2% inflation target. However, he noted the cooling job market, saying “we now face two-sided risks” and can no longer focus solely on inflation.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six major peers including the euro and yen, was flat at 105.11 early in the Asian day, after rising about 0.1% on Tuesday.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, dipped on Wednesday as the impact from Hurricane Beryl dissipated and inflation data highlighted stubbornly weak consumer demand in top crude importer China.

Brent futures were down 58 cents, or 0.69%, at $84.08 a barrel, as of 0632 GMT, after falling 1.3% in the previous session.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 48 cents, or 0.59%, to $80.93 a barrel, after falling 1.1% in the previous session.