Rupee marginally appreciates against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered slight improvement, appreciating 0.03% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At close, the currency settled at 278.41, a gain of Re0.09, against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the currency had settled at 278.50 against the US dollar.

In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar.

Globally, the yen rose to its strongest level against the US dollar in 2-1/2 months on Thursday and scaled multi-month highs against other currencies ahead of next week’s Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting.

Against the dollar, the yen surged more than 1% to peak at 152.23, a level not seen since early May.

US business activity climbed to a 27-month high in July, but firms appeared to have some difficulty sustaining higher prices for their goods and services amid resistance from consumers.

Traders also have their eye on second-quarter U.S. growth figures later on Thursday, though the outcome is unlikely to significantly alter bets for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, with a September move already fully priced in.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar fell more than 0.1% to 104.21, though that was largely on the back of the yen’s sharp rise.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell on Thursday on mixed demand signals a day after large draws on U.S. inventories while consumption in China, the world’s largest crude importer, remains lacklustre.

Brent crude futures for September fell 74 cents, or 0.9%, to $80.97 a barrel by 0855 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for September slid 74 cents, or 1%, to $76.85.