The Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.
At 10am, the local unit was hovering at 278.33, a gain of Re0.17 against the greenback.
On Tuesday, the rupee had closed at 278.50 after a gain of Re0.12.
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.
Globally, the US dollar was firm on Wednesday and trading on the precipice of the 160 yen barrier as investors turned cautious and counted down to the release of US price data at the end of the week.
At 159.71 per dollar, the yen’s level has markets on alert since that is only a whisker shy of where Japanese authorities likely stepped in to buy yen in April.
Markets are banking that Friday’s US data shows annual growth in the Federal Reserve’s favoured core personal consumption expenditure index slowed to 2.6% in May, the lowest in more than three years and opening the way to rate cuts.
Policymakers, however, continue to signal they are in no rush, with Fed Governors Lisa Cook and particularly Michelle Bowman stressing that decisions will depend on data.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, inched up during Asian trade on Wednesday despite a surprise jump in US stockpiles, driven by geopolitical risks from the Middle East conflict and forecasts of an eventual inventory drawdown during the third quarter peak demand season.
Brent crude oil futures rose 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.41 a barrel by 0406 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 43 cents, or 0.5%, to $81.26 per barrel.
Official Energy Information Administration (EIA) inventory numbers today will provide the market further pointers on the trend,“ said Suvro Sarkar, energy sector team lead at DBS Bank.
This is an intra-day update
American Dollar Exchange Rate