Intra-day update: rupee strengthens further against US dollar
At 10:15am, the currency was hovering at 282.47, a gain of Re0.25.
During the previous week, rupee gained further against the US dollar in the inter-bank market as it appreciated by Re0.73 or 0.26%.
The local unit closed at 282.72, against 283.45 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Internationally, a battered US dollar edged marginally higher on Monday after a dismal US jobs report and President Donald Trump's firing of a top labour official stunned investors and led them to ramp up bets of imminent Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Data on Friday showed US employment growth undershot expectations in July while the nonfarm payrolls count for the prior two months was revised down by a massive 258,000 jobs, suggesting a sharp deterioration in labour market conditions.
Adding to headwinds for markets, Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer the same day, accusing her of faking the jobs numbers.
An unexpected resignation by Fed Governor Adriana Kugler also opened the door for Trump to make an imprint on the central bank much earlier than anticipated. Trump has been at loggerheads with the Fed for not lowering interest rates sooner.
The barrage of developments dealt a one-two punch to the dollar, which sank more than 2% against the yen and roughly 1.5% against the euro on Friday.
The greenback recovered some of its losses against the Japanese currency on Monday, last trading 0.14% higher at 147.60 yen.
The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1560 , while sterling eased 0.1% to $1.3263.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar edged up 0.2% to 98.86, after sliding more than 1% on Friday.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, extended declines on Monday after OPEC+ agreed to another large production hike in September, with concerns about a slowing economy in the US, the world's biggest oil user, adding to the pressure.
Brent crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.57%, to $69.27 a barrel by 0115 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $66.96 a barrel, down 37 cents, or 0.55%, after both contracts closed about $2 a barrel lower on Friday.
This is an intra-day update
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