Business Recorder
The Pakistani rupee registered marginal gain, appreciating 0.01% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.82, a gain of Rs0.03 against the greenback. On Friday , the local unit closed at 278.85. Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided on Monday to increase the policy rate by 100 basis points (bps) to 11.50% in its third Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of 2026. Moreover, the US dollar started Monday’s session on the front foot keeping the Japanese yen pinned near the crucial 160 level ahead of the Bank of Japan’s policy decision later in the week.** The euro eased 0.14% to $1.1706, while sterling bought $1.35155, down 0.12%. The dollar index , which measures the US currency against six major peers, was at 98.623. The dollar benefited in March from safe-haven flows as the war erupted but shed most of those gains on hopes of a peace deal this month. It steadied in recent days after US–Iran talks stalled. Additionally, oil prices jumped almost 3% on Monday. The Brent crude benchmark rose $3, or about 2.9%, to $108.36 a barrel by 0828 GMT, its highest in three weeks. US West Texas Intermediate was up $2.45, or 2.6%, at $96.85. Brent and WTI gained nearly 17% and 13% respectively last week for their biggest weekly gains since the start of the war.
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