Intra-day update: rupee strengthens against US dollar
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The Pakistani rupee strengthened marginally against the US dollar, appreciating 0.08% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday. At 10:10am, the currency was hovering at 278.2, a gain of Re0.21 against the greenback. On Thursday, the currency had settled at 278.41 against the US dollar. In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar. Globally, the US dollar found its footing after data on Thursday showed the world’s largest economy expanded faster than expected and inflation slowed in the second quarter. The dollar index, which measures the US unit versus six rivals, was little changed at 104.35. The PCE data is expected to come in at 0.1% on a monthly basis. The Fed meets next week and is expected to stand pat on rates this time but markets are fully pricing in a rate cut in September. Traders also anticipate 66 basis points of easing this year. Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world’s largest energy consumer. But concerns about soft economic conditions in Asia’s biggest economies, China and Japan, capped gains. Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel by 0014 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel.



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