Rupe weakens against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee weakened against the US dollar, depreciating 0.1% in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.

At close, the currency settled at 284.96, a loss of Re0.29.

On Tuesday, the currency settled at 284.67.

Internationally, the US dollar rose alongside Treasury yields on Wednesday, which in turn kept pressure on the yen after the latest US inflation report showed signs that President Donald Trump’s tariffs were beginning to feed into prices.

Rising prices on goods as varied as coffee, audio equipment and home furnishing pulled the inflation rate higher in June, with substantial increases in prices of the heavily imported items.

That pushed the dollar and bond yields higher as investors pared back expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

The jump in the dollar was most apparent against the yen, as it knocked the Japanese currency to a four-month low of 149.03 overnight. The dollar last traded at 148.90 yen.

The euro and sterling similarly languished near three-week lows hit in the previous session, and last bought $1.1608 and $1.3394, respectively.

Traders are now pricing in roughly 43 basis points worth of Fed easing by December, down from just above 50 bps at the start of the week.

US Treasury yields stayed elevated on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield scaling a one-month top of 4.4950%.

That kept the US dollar supported against a basket of currencies, as it hovered near a one-month high at 98.60.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, steadied on Wednesday, as signs of stronger Chinese crude consumption were outweighed by investor caution about the wider economic impact from US tariffs.

Prices have seesawed in a tight range, as signs of steady demand from an increase in travel during the Northern Hemisphere summer have competed with concerns that US tariffs on trading partners will slow economic growth and fuel consumption.

Brent crude futures eased 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $68.54 a barrel by 0844 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $66.41.