Rupee registers marginal gain against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement, appreciating 0.05% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.

At close, the currency settled at 278.55, a gain of Re0.14, against the greenback.

On Thursday, the local unit closed at 278.69 against the US dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

In recent months, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar as traders have an eye on some strong positive indicators.

Globally, the US dollar hovered close to a one-week high against major rivals on Friday, after the biggest drop in US jobless claims in close to a year allayed fears of a looming economic downturn.

The US currency extended gains against the Japanese yen to a fourth day, buoyed by a spike in Treasury yields following Thursday’s firmer-than-expected employment data, which spurred a paring back in bets for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

Markets have endured a turbulent week, triggered in large part by surprisingly soft US payrolls figures a week ago that sent global stocks tumbling on Monday, while demand for the safety of assets such as the yen and the Swissie sent the currencies surging to their highest levels since the start of the year on Monday.

The dollar index, which measures the currency versus the yen, Swissie, euro, sterling and two other peers, was flat at 103.30 following three days of gains.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were steady on Friday and on course for a weekly gain of more than 3% as US jobs data calmed demand concerns and fears of a widening Middle East conflict persisted.

Brent crude futures were up 1 cents to $79.17 per barrel by 0845 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 8 cents at $76.27 per barrel.

Both Brent and WTI were set to gain more than 3% on a weekly basis.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Friday

BID                            Rs 278.55

OFFER                      Rs 278.75

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR gained 2 paise for buying and remained unchanged for selling against USD, closing at 279.28 and 280.40, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR lost 18 paise for buying and gained 13 paise for selling, closing at 303.80 and 305.41, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 2 paise for buying and remained unchanged for selling, closing at 75.90 and 76.35, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 3 paise for buying and remained unchanged for selling, closing at 74.13 and 74.55, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Friday

BID                            Rs 279.28

OFFER                      Rs 280.40