Rupee records marginal gain against US dollar

At 10:15am, the rupee was hovering at 279.15, an increase of Re0.33 against the greenback in the inter-bank market.

On Thursday, the rupee had registered a marginal increase to settle at 279.48 against the US dollar, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

In a key development, Business Recorder, citing its sources, reported that the government team is all set to hold a session with International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a day or two on tariff rationalisation meant to reduce tariff for industry up to cents 11.75 per unit from cents 14 per unit through subsidy neutral proposal.

Globally, the US dollar fell broadly on Friday in a bout of positive risk sentiment following upbeat big tech earnings on Wall Street, while traders awaited US jobs data due later in the day to gauge how soon the Federal Reserve could begin easing rates.

The closely watched nonfarm payrolls report later on Friday comes on the heels of the Fed’s latest policy meeting where rates were kept steady as expected, though Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against market expectations of rate cuts in March.

Ahead of the release, the greenback dipped against a basket of currencies, extending a 0.5% fall in the previous session.

The dollar index was last at 103.02 and on track for its first weekly decline for the year.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose in early trade on Friday following a decision by OPEC+ to keep its oil output policy unchanged, clawing back some losses from the previous trading session triggered by unsubstantiated ceasefire reports between Israel and Hamas.

Brent crude futures rose 50 cents, or 0.6%, to $79.20 a barrel at 0155 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $74.22 a barrel.

Both contracts settled more than 2% lower on Thursday due to the unverified ceasefire reports between Israel and Hamas. However, a Qatari official said there was no ceasefire.