Intra-day update: rupee remains stable against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market during the opening hours of trading on Friday.

At 10am, the rupee was hovering at 279.45, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.

The rupee had closed at 279.46 on Thursday.

Internationally, the Japanese yen shot to a 2-1/2 month high on Friday on the back of a jump in Japanese inflation, while the US dollar was set for a third weekly drop in a row as traders calculated the start of Donald Trump’s second term has been mostly bluster on the tariff front.

The yen broke through chart resistance at 150 per dollar overnight and it strengthened as far as 149.285 per dollar in the Asia morning after Japan recorded core inflation running at its fastest pace for 19 months in January.

The euro was up 0.8% overnight and was steady in Asia at $1.0498 with traders awaiting an election in Germany on the weekend where polls point to a conservative coalition win.

The US dollar nursed broad losses as bulls who had built up big long positions in anticipation of a trade war have backed off while Trump equivocates about tariffs.

Trump has slapped an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and announced plans to reimpose steel and aluminium levies from his first term, but suspended threatened tariffs on Canada and Mexico while numerous others remain – as of yet – only threats.

The US dollar index on Thursday touched its lowest for 2025 at 106.29 and was last at 106.45.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, extended gains on Friday, headed for a weekly increase, as falling inventories of US gasoline and distillate raised expectations of solid demand while concerns over supply disruptions in Russia lent support.

Brent futures climbed 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $76.64 a barrel by 0123 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude edged up 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $72.65.

Both benchmarks were set for a weekly gain of about 3%.

US crude oil stockpiles rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week as seasonal maintenance at refineries led to lower processing, the Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.

This is an intra-day update