Rupee records marginal fall against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal fall against the US dollar, depreciating 0.03% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday.

At close, the currency settled at 277.84, a loss of Re0.09 against the greenback.

On Monday, the rupee had settled at 277.75, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Internationally, the US dollar rose broadly against major rivals on Tuesday after President-elect Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all products coming in to the United States from Mexico and Canada.

The US dollar rose over 2% against the Mexican peso and 1% against its Canadian counterpart. The dollar has been on the back foot in the past few days as US Treasury markets cheered Trump’s pick of hedge fund manager Scott Bessent for US Treasury secretary.

The US dollar index, which measures the US currency against six rivals, was last at 107.37.

On China, the president-elect said Beijing was not taking strong enough action to stop the flow of illicit drugs crossing the border into the US from Mexico by curbing the export of drugmaking ingredients.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Tuesday after falling more than $2 a barrel in the previous session as investors took stock of a potential ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which had weighed on oil’s risk premium.

Brent crude futures were up 73 cents, or 1%, to $73.74 a barrel as of 1018 GMT.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $69.62 a barrel, up 68 cents, also 1%. Prices fell sharply on Monday after multiple reports that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to the terms of a deal to end the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Tuesday

BID                            Rs 277.84

OFFER                      Rs 278.04

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR lost 12 paise for buying and 11 paise for selling against USD, closing at 277.09 and 278.90, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR lost 73 paise for buying and 74 paise for selling, closing at 289.58 and 292.35, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 1 paisa for buying and remained unchanged for selling, closing at 75.27 and 75.97, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling, closing at 73.52 and 74.18, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Tuesday

BID                            Rs 277.09

OFFER                      Rs 278.90