The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during the opening minutes of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday. At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 279.78, a gain of Re0.19 against the greenback. On Wednesday , the local unit closed at 279.97. Globally, the yen held onto overnight gains on Thursday but was pinned near 18-month lows as traders remained wary of intervention after strong warnings ahead of an election in Japan that could usher in more fiscal stimulus and keep the currency constrained. The yen fetched 158.554 per dollar in early Asian hours after firming 0.4% in the previous session as Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama issued another verbal warning. The currency though was not far off the 18-month low of 159.45 it touched on Wednesday, and has dropped nearly 5% since Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office in October as investors fretted about her spending plans. The dollar was knocked back at the start of the week after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called out the Trump administration’s decision to subpoena him, saying it amounted to intimidating the Fed into delivering easier monetary policy. The greenback has since recovered as traders took the escalation in stride, even though investors remain concerned about the Fed’s independence under President Donald Trump. Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was steady at 99.129, near a one-month high it touched on Wednesday. The index was flat for the week. The euro eased to $1.1636, while sterling bought $1.3636. Oil prices , a key indicator of currency parity, slid more than 2% in early Asian trade on Thursday after US President Donald Trump said killings in Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests were stopping, tempering concern over military action against Iran and supply disruption. Brent futures were down $1.67, or 2.5%, at $64.85 a barrel at 0109 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude slipped $1.54, or 2.5%, to $60.48 a barrel. Both benchmarks settled more than 1% higher on Wednesday but gave back most gains after Trump’s remarks reduced fear of a potential US attack on Iran. This is an intra-day update