Intra-day update: rupee gains some ground against US dollar – Markets

The Pakistani rupee registered a minor gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% in the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At 10:20am, the rupee was hovering at 277.73, a gain of Re0.19 against the greenback.

On Wednesday, the rupee registered a marginal loss to settle at 277.92 against the US dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Internationally, the US dollar was pinned beneath recent peaks on Thursday with traders taking remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as reassuring on the likelihood of interest rate cuts this year while waiting for the latest US labour market readout.

An unexpected slowdown in US services growth also supported cut expectations and weighed on the dollar, though for the year so far it remains the best-performing G10 currency as those expectations are far more modest than three months ago.

The US dollar index, up 2.8% this year as market expectations for more than 160 basis points of US rate cuts have been sliced in half, was last at 104.22.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose in early Asian trade on Thursday on concerns of lower supply as major producers are keeping output cuts in place and on signs of stronger economic growth in the US, the world’s biggest oil consumer.

Brent futures for June rose 15 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $89.51 a barrel at 0037 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for May rose 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $85.59 a barrel.

Oil has gained as Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries have cut fuel supply and amid concerns that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza may spread to include Iran, possibly disrupting supplies in the key Middle East region.

This is an intra-day update