Intra-day update: rupee registers gain against US dollar – Markets

The Pakistani rupee maintained its positive momentum against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during Tuesday’s opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market.

At 10am, the currency was hovering at 281.33, a gain of Re0.19 against the greenback.

On Monday, the local unit closed at 281.52.

Globally, the US dollar traded near a 2-1/2 month low against the euro and close to a 10-month trough versus the risk-sensitive Aussie on Tuesday as investors cemented bets for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this week and more to follow.

The greenback traded just shy of a more than two-month low against the British pound, with US President Donald Trump renewing calls for aggressive monetary easing.

Markets see a rate reduction of at least 25 basis points on Wednesday as a certainty, with a small chance of a super-sized 50 basis-point cut.

A total of 67 basis points of reduction is seen over the rest of this year, rising to 81 basis points by the end of January.

Trump in a social media post on Monday called on Powell to enact a “bigger” cut to benchmark interest rates in a social media post, pointing to the housing market.

Rapidly softening labour market data has been the key driver of the ramp-up in easing bets in recent weeks, resulting in a lower dollar and bond yields while pushing up equity prices, with Wall Street setting new records on Monday.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, held steady in early trade on Tuesday after rising in the previous session, as market participants contemplated potential supply disruption from Russia after Ukrainian drone attacks on its refineries.

Brent crude futures edged up 4 cents to $67.48 a barrel by 0000 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $63.32, up 2 cents. On Monday, Brent settled up 45 cents at $67.44 while WTI settled 61 cents higher at $63.30.

Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in an attempt to impair Moscow’s war capability, as talks to end their conflict have stalled.

This is an intra-day update