Rupee largely stable against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee remained largely stable against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At close, the local unit settled at 278.3, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

On Tuesday, the rupee closed at 278.31, up by Re0.09. The inter-bank market was closed on Wednesday on account of Labor Day.

In a key development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif constituted a 16-member Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Dr Musadik Masood Malik to facilitate Saudi private sector delegation, scheduled to visit Pakistan from May 5-7, 2024, sources in the Petroleum Division told Business Recorder.

Internationally, the yen gave up ground in early trade on Thursday, reversing direction after a sudden surge against the dollar overnight that traders and analysts were quick to attribute to intervention by Japanese authorities.

The dollar was 0.9% higher at 155.98 yen as of 0100 GMT, retracing about half of its late Wednesday surge from around 157.55 to exactly 153 over a period of about 30 minutes.

The sharp overnight move came in a quiet period for markets after Wall Street had closed and hours after the Federal Reserve had wrapped up its policy meeting, with Chair Jerome Powell reiterating that sticky inflation meant interest rate cuts may be a while in coming.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against the yen, euro and four other major peers, ticked up 0.07% to 105.78 on Thursday, following a 0.56% retreat on Wednesday from near six-month highs.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Thursday, rebounding from three days of losses that took prices to their lowest since mid-March. Brent crude futures for July gained 79 cents, or 0.95%, to $84.23 a barrel by 0959 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June climbed 69 cents, or 0.87%, to $79.69.

Prices fell more than 3% to a seven-week low on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady and warned of stubborn inflation, which could curtail economic growth this year and limit oil demand increases.

Crude was also pressured by an unexpected increase in US crude inventories in data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 278.30

OFFER                      Rs 278.50

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR lost 12.00 paisa for buying and 2.00 paisa for selling against USD, closing at 277.04 and 279.65, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR lost 23.00 paisa for buying and 30.00 paisa for selling, closing at 294.45 and 297.23, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR gained 2.00 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 75.01 and 75.73, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 2.00 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 73.30 and 73.96, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 277.04

OFFER                      Rs 279.65