The Pakistani rupee maintained its positive momentum against the US dollar, appreciating 0.09% during Wednesday’s opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market.
At 10am, the rupee was hovering at 281.35, a gain of Re0.26 against the greenback. This was the rupee’s 23rd consecutive gain against the greenback.
On Tuesday, the local unit closed at 281.61.
Globally, the US dollar was steady on Wednesday as traders braced for crucial inflation reports this week that could help define the size and scope of interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve for next week and beyond.
After a dismal jobs report last week cemented expectations of the Fed lowering borrowing costs at its September 16-17 policy meeting, the only question for investors is whether the magnitude of the cut would be 25 basis points or 50 basis points.
Much of that will depend on the extent of tariffs’ impact on prices in the world’s largest economy. US producer price inflation data is due on Wednesday, followed by the consumer price inflation report on Thursday.
Traders are fully pricing in a 25 bps cut next week and have ascribed a 5% chance to a 50 bps reduction. They anticipate 66 bps of easing this year.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other units, was steady at 97.834 after gaining 0.3% on Tuesday. The index is down about 10% in 2025 as erratic US trade policies and rate cut expectations dented the dollar’s appeal.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Wednesday after Israel attacked Hamas leadership in Qatar and US President Donald Trump asked Europe to impose tariffs on buyers of Russian oil, but a weak market outlook capped gains.
Brent crude futures rose 35 cents, or 0.53%, to $66.74 a barrel by 0033 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 36 cents, or 0.57%, to $62.99 a barrel.
Prices had settled up 0.6% in the previous trading session after Israel said it had attacked Hamas leadership in Doha, which Qatar’s prime minister said threatened to derail peace talks between Hamas and Israel.
The oil price response was seen as relatively limited because of overall market weakness. Both benchmarks rose almost 2% shortly after the attack, but then retreated after the US told Doha such a thing would not happen again on its soil.
This is an intra-day update
American Dollar Exchange Rate