The Pakistani rupee continued to strengthen against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% in the inter-bank market on Thursday.
At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 280.78, a gain of Re0.18 against the greenback.
On Wednesday, the local unit closed at 280.96.
Internationally, the Japanese yen fell on Thursday after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) left rates unchanged, while the US dollar held gains as traders trimmed bets of another US rate cut this year and awaited more details on a potential trade deal between Washington and Beijing.
The yen, which fell 0.15% against the dollar to 152.97, is languishing near an eight-month low.
In the broader market, there was a muted reaction after a highly anticipated meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours. Neither side has yet released further details of the talks.
Still, the overall market mood was buoyant as investors bet on a further thaw in icy trade relations between the two nations.
Trump earlier said that a trade deal with China could be signed on Thursday, while the Chinese president similarly told his U.S. counterpart that trade negotiators from the world’s two largest economies had reached a basic consensus on a deal.
That left the dollar clinging to overnight gains after some hawkish comments from the Fed, steadying near a two-week high at 99.09 against a basket of currencies.
The Fed on Wednesday lowered rates by 25 basis points as expected and said it will end its balance sheet drawdown on December 1.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, held on to most gains from the previous session in Asian trading on Thursday as investors awaited the outcome of US-China trade talks, hoping for signs that tensions clouding the outlook for world economic growth will ease.
Brent crude futures, which had risen 52 cents on Wednesday, fell 4 cents or 0.06% to $64.88 a barrel by 0402 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped by 9 cents or 0.15% to $60.39 after climbing 33 cents a day earlier.
