The Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.08% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday.
At 10:20am, the currency was hovering at 278.45, a gain of Re0.23 against the US dollar.
On Thursday, the rupee had settled at 278.68 against the US dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
In recent months, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 as traders keep an eye on progress with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board over a new $7-billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Internationally, the US dollar sagged near a one-week low versus major peers on Friday with job market indicators sending mixed signals ahead of crucial monthly payrolls data later in the day that is almost certain to set the pace for Federal Reserve policy easing.
The dollar index, which gauges the currency against a basket of six key counterparts, was steady at 101.03 as of 0015 GMT, after slipping about 0.2% overnight and touching 100.96 for the first time since Aug. 29.
For the week, it has dropped close to 0.7%.
What the Fed makes of the numbers will be almost immediately obvious, with both Governor Christopher Waller and New York Fed President John Williams separately taking to the podium in the final Fedspeak before the blackout period begins ahead of this month’s policy gathering.
Traders currently see 40% odds for a super-sized 50-basis point (bp) Fed interest rate cut on Sept. 18, versus 60% probability of a quarter-point reduction, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. A day earlier, wagers on the larger cut stood at 44%, but a week ago it was 34%.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, edged up in early trading on Friday as investors weighed a big withdrawal from US crude inventories and a delay to production hikes by OPEC+ producers against mixed US employment data.
Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.26%, to $72.88 at 0010 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 22 cents, or 0.32%, to $69.37.
Brent settled down 1 cent at its lowest close since June 2023 on Thursday and WTI was down 5 cents to the lowest close since December 2023 after data showed that US crude stockpiles fell to a one-year low last week.
This is an intra-day update
American Dollar Exchange Rate