The Pakistani rupee posted marginal fall against the US dollar, depreciating 0.01% during the opening hours of trading in the interbank market on Wednesday.
At 12pm, the currency was hovering at 283.78, a loss of Re0.02.
On Monday, the currency settled at 283.76.
The interbank market was closed on Tuesday on account of a bank holiday.
Globally, the US dollar hunkered near the lowest since February 2022 against major peers on Wednesday, as traders considered dovish hints from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, along with the potential impact of President Donald Trump’s spending bill.
The greenback was pinned near its weakest since September 2021 on the euro, and was at its lowest since January 2015 versus the Swiss franc.
Powell reiterated on Tuesday at the European Central Bank’s annual conference in Sintra, Portugal that the Fed is taking a patient approach to further interest rate cuts, but didn’t rule out a reduction at this month’s meeting, saying everything depends on incoming data.
That raises the stakes for the monthly non-farm payrolls report on Thursday.
Indications of labour market resilience in the US JOLTS figures overnight saw the dollar rise off Tuesday’s lows.
The US dollar index, which measures the currency against six major counterparts, edged up slightly to 96.677, but didn’t stray far from the overnight low of 96.373.
Markets are also keeping a close watch on Trump’s massive tax-and-spending bill, which could add $3.3 trillion to the national debt.
The bill, which was passed by the US Senate, will return to the House for final approval.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were little changed on Wednesday as markets weighed expectations from more supply from major producers next month, a softer US dollar and a mixed bag of economic and market indicators from the US, the world’s largest oil consumer.
Brent crude was up 2 cents at $67.13 a barrel at 0345 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1 cent to $65.44 a barrel.
Brent has traded between a high of $69.05 a barrel and low of $66.34 since June 25, as concerns of supply disruptions in the Middle East producing region have ebbed following the ceasefire between Iran and Israel.
This is an intra-day update
