The Pakistani rupee recorded a marginal improvement against the US dollar, appreciating 0.08% in the inter-bank market during the opening hours of trading on Friday.
At 11am, the rupee was hovering at 279.5, a gain of Re0.22 against the greenback.
On Thursday, the rupee had closed at 279.72.
Globally, the US dollar drew safe-haven support on Friday ahead of US President Donald Trump’s impending tariffs, though was still headed for a monthly loss as investors weighed those threats against a darkening US growth outlook.
The US dollar index last stood at 107.24, having jumped nearly 0.9% on Thursday. Still, the index was on track for a monthly loss of 1.1%, its worst since August, as the US dollar continues to face some downward pressure amid worries over the health of the world’s largest economy.
A raft of weaker-than-expected economic data has led to traders ramping up bets of more Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, which has in turn sent US Treasury yields lower and been a drag on the US dollar.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, eased on Friday, heading for their first monthly drop since November, as uncertainty over global economic growth and fuel demand from Washington’s tariff threats and further signs of a US economic slowdown outweighed supply concerns.
The more active May Brent crude futures slipped 31 cents, or 0.4%, to $73.26 a barrel by 0348 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $70.04 a barrel, down 31 cents, or 0.4%.
Front-month Brent that expires later on Friday traded at $73.69, down 35 cents, or 0.5%.
Both benchmarks are on track to post their first monthly decline in three months.
This is an intra-day update
