Business Recorder

Rupee registers gain against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee gained against the US dollar, appreciating 0.01% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At close, the local currency settled at 278.37, a gain of Re0.03 against the greenback. On Monday , the local unit closed at 278.40. Meanwhile, the US dollar held near a two-month high on Tuesday, firming against most major peers as Middle East uncertainty curbed risk appetite and traders ramped up bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike later this year. Iran and Israel halted attacks on each other on Monday after an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump, but tensions ran high as Tehran threatened to resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. US efforts to reach a lasting agreement with the Iranians to end their more than three-month-old war have made little headway, leaving oil prices elevated and underpinning safe-haven demand for the greenback. The euro stood at $1.1528, and the sterling fetched $1.3335, both down roughly 0.05% so far in Asia after hitting their two-month lows in the previous session. The risk-sensitive Australian dollar was down 0.1% at $0.7039, and the New Zealand dollar traded at $0.5804. The Japanese yen weakened to as much as 160.295, continuing to hover around the 160 level, widely seen as a line in the sand for potential official intervention. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was little changed at 100.03, near the two-month high of 100.21 it struck on Monday. Oil prices , a key indicator of currency parity, fell on Tuesday, erasing most of the previous session’s gains, after Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each other following an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump, though both sides warned they could resume hostilities. Brent crude futures were down $1.33, or 1.4%, at $92.92 a barrel at 0741 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate declined $1.73, or 1.9%, to $89.57 a barrel.

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