The Pakistani rupee continued its marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.
The local unit closed the day at 276.60, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback.
On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 276.61 against the dollar.
Internationally, the US dollar held near a 19-month high on Friday after a strong week of gains on rising bets of a larger Federal Reserve rate hike, pushing the Japanese yen back near the key 160 mark that has left traders on alert for intervention.
Treasury yields rose after US President Donald Trump said the US does not need a deal with Iran and as traders weighed the chance of a larger-than-usual Federal Reserve rate hike next month.
Two-year Treasury yields gained 34 basis points over the past two sessions, the sharpest two-day rise in 3-1/2 years.
The euro dropped 0.1% to $1.1049, hovering near its lowest level against the dollar since April 2025. For the week, it was down 0.8%, on track for its largest weekly loss since late September.
Fed officials this week warned that US inflation remains stubbornly elevated, with some signalling openness to a 50-basis-point rate increase if price pressures fail to ease.
Traders are pricing in a 14.5% chance of a large hike next month, up from 0% last week, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
Investors are also keeping an eye on upheaval in technology stocks in the wake of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s departure, in a sector already pressured by funding and regulatory concerns.
The Japanese yen was largely unchanged at 159.875 per dollar, near its lowest level since early September, fuelling intervention concerns.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday that the government will respond appropriately to currency volatility as the yen briefly hit the key 160-per-dollar line on Thursday.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was last down 0.05% at 103.17, remaining at its highest since April 2025.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, inched down on Friday and were headed for a second weekly decline as a continued US blockade of Iran eased fears of renewed fighting in the Middle East, though shipping attacks remained a supply risk.
Brent futures fell 28 cents, or 0.29%, to $95.54 a barrel at 0527 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures declined by 56 cents, or 0.63%, to $88.18 a barrel.
Comments