Business Recorder
The Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.85, a gain of Re0.01 against the greenback. On Thursday , the local unit closed at 278.86. Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is scheduled to hold the third Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of 2026 on April 27 to review the key policy rate amid evolving macroeconomic and external conditions. Moreover, the dollar was on track for its first weekly gain in three weeks on Friday. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was little changed at 98.82 and remained on track for a weekly gain of 0.58%. The euro was flat at $1.1683, while sterling edged down 0.02% to $1.3464. “Oil and the dollar are still moving pretty closely together, and with crude creeping back up … I’d say the dollar is still staying fairly firm,” said Sho Suzuki, a market analyst at Matsui Securities. On the other hand, oil prices rose on Friday due to fears of a renewed military escalation in the Middle East after Iran released footage of commandos boarding a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz and on reports that Tehran’s air defences had engaged “hostile targets.” Brent crude futures rose 99 cents, or 0.94%, to $106.06 a barrel at 0410 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate futures were up 71 cents, or 0.73%, at $96.56. Brent rose 17.13% throughout the course of the week while WTI rose 15.13%, the second-largest weekly gain since the war began.
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