Rupee continues to strengthen against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee recorded marginal improvement against the US dollar as it appreciated 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.

At close, the currency settled at 280.67, a gain of Re0.04 against the greenback.

On Monday, the local unit closed at 280.71.

Internationally, the Japanese yen slid to its weakest level in more than nine months in early Asian trading on Tuesday as the US dollar benefited from receding expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates at its policy meeting next month.

The US dollar edged as much as 0.1% higher against the yen to 155.29, the Japanese currency’s weakest level since February 4 this year, ahead of the release of delayed US payrolls data for September due on Thursday.

The recent moves in the yen prompted Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama to express concern at a regular news conference on Tuesday.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is due to meet Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda later on Tuesday. A proponent of expansionary fiscal and monetary policy, Takaichi has filled seats in key government panels with advocates of big spending backed by low interest rates – policies that work to depreciate the yen’s value.

Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 43% probability of a 25-basis-point cut at the US central bank’s next meeting on December 10, down from a 62% chance a week ago and expectations that a cut was a near-certainty a month ago, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

The dollar index, a measure of the US currency against major rivals, was last up 0.2% at 99.545, snapping a four-day losing streak to reclaim a one-week high.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, dipped on Tuesday as supply concerns eased with the resumption of loadings at a Russian export hub, briefly halted by a Ukrainian drone and missile strike, while traders continued to assess the impact of Western sanctions on Russian flows.

Brent crude futures were down 28 cents, or 0.4%, at $63.92 a barrel, as of 0100 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 26 cents, or 0.4%, at $59.65 a barrel.