The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.09% during the opening minutes of trading in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 279.75, a gain of Re0.25 against the greenback. On Tuesday , the local unit closed at 280.00. Internationally, the US dollar recovered ground to near a one-month ​high in early Asian trade on Wednesday after US CPI data that was broadly in line with estimates, firming up ‌expectations that the Federal Reserve will remain on hold later this month despite unprecedented pressure from the White House to lower interest rates. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was last up 0.3% at 99.18, retracing losses from Monday after US President Donald Trump threatened Fed Chair Jerome Powell with a criminal indictment. Global central bank chiefs and top Wall Street bank CEOs lined up in support of Powell on Tuesday. On Tuesday, data showed US consumer prices increased 0.3% in December compared to the previous month, lifted by higher costs for rents and food as some of the distortions related to the government shutdown that had artificially lowered ⁠inflation in November unwound. The print cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve would leave interest rates unchanged this month, with Fed funds futures currently pricing an ‍implied 95.6% probability that the U.S. central bank will remain on hold when its next two-day meeting concludes on 28 January, unchanged from a day earlier, according ‌to the ‌CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Volatility in most currency pairs was subdued in early Asian trading ahead of a possible Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Trump’s emergency tariffs. Oil prices , a key indicator of currency parity, paused their run of gains on Wednesday, slipping ​after four days of increases, as Venezuela resumed exports, but fears of Iranian supply disruptions following ‌deadly civil unrest in the major Middle Eastern producer loom over the market. Brent futures were trading 9 cents down, or 0.14% lower, at $65.38 a barrel at 0207 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 12 cents, or 0.20%, at $61.03 a barrel. This is an intra-day update