The Pakistani rupee registered marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.1% in the inter-bank market on Friday.
At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 281.78, a gain of Re0.28 against the greenback.
On Thursday, the Pakistani rupee closed the day at 282.06.
Globally, the US dollar was soft on Friday, poised to make its first weekly drop in five weeks against the euro and the yen as worries over the United States’ worsening fiscal health sent investors scurrying for safe havens.
After Moody’s last week downgraded its US debt ratings, investor attention this week has honed in on the country’s $36 trillion debt pile and US President Donald Trump’s tax bill that could add trillions of dollars more to it.
Dubbed by Trump as a “big, beautiful bill”, it narrowly passed the Republican-controlled US House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for what is likely to be weeks of debate.
The dollar index, which compares the US currency against six other units, including the yen and euro, is set for a 1.1% decline this week, though it was little changed at 99.829 in early Asia trade.
That’s despite a steep selloff in US Treasuries at the start of the week.
The 30-year bond yield stayed above 5% in Asian hours on Friday, hovering near 19-month highs. It is close to October 2023’s high of 5.179%, a break past which would take it to its highest since mid-2007.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, slipped on Friday, weighed down by a stronger US dollar and the possibility that OPEC+ will further increase its crude oil output.
Brent futures fell 37 cents to $64.07 a barrel by 0015 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures lost 39 cents to $60.81.
Brent was down 2% on the week, and WTI was 2.7% lower.
Oil typically trades inversely with the dollar because a stronger greenback makes the commodity more expensive for non-U.S. buyers.
This is an intra-day update
