The Pakistani rupee posted a marginal gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.05% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday.
At 10:10am, the rupee was hovering at 286.75, an increase of Re0.15 in the inter-bank market.
On Wednesday, the rupee had depreciated 0.18% to settle at 286.90 against the US dollar.
In a related development, Moody’s Investors Services (Moody’s), in its latest report, warned that with the lowest level of exports of 10.5% of GDP, Pakistan is the most vulnerable to a balance of payment (BOP) crises among South Asian sovereigns.
The rating agency, in its latest report, ‘Sovereigns – South Asia, Low trade openness fuels vulnerability to shocks and curbs growth in the longer run’ stated that Pakistan and Sri Lanka are most vulnerable among the four sovereigns.
Internationally, the US dollar was headed for its best week against the yen in three months on Friday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and a chorus of Fed officials poured cold water on market expectations of a peak in US rates.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether held near multi-month highs, with renewed speculation over the imminent approval of an exchange-traded bitcoin fund breathing new life into the digital assets.
A slew of Fed policymakers including Powell on Thursday said they are still not sure that interest rates are high enough to finish the battle with inflation, comments taken as hawkish by markets and which sent the greenback rising.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were little changed on Friday after rising in the previous session but are set to fall for a third week as concerns of supply disruptions from the Israel-Hamas conflict have ebbed allowing demand worries to reassert themselves.
Brent crude futures for January were flat at $80.01 a barrel at 0157 GMT, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were at $75.67, down 7 cents. Brent futures are down 5.7% this week while WTI has declined 5.9% since last week.
This is an intra-day update