- Pakistan Rupee (PKR) traces domestic equities lower
- Oil rises on reopening optimism
- US Dollar (USD) trades lower versus major peers after dovish Powell
- Fed Powell to testify before congress again today
The US Dollar Pakistan Rupee (USD/PKR) exchange rate is pushing higher on Wednesday, paring losses from the previous session. The pair settled -0.1% lower at 158.62 on Tuesday. At 11:15 UTC, USD/PKR trades +0.1% at 158.80.
The Pakistan Rupee is tracing domestic equities lower. The Karachi 30 benchmark index trades -0.25% at the time of writing.
According to the State Bank Foreign Direct Investment into Pakistan showed a decline in January at $257 million, down by 12% compared to the same period a year earlier.
FDI net flows in the 7 months of the fiscal year 2021 stood at $1145 a 27% year on year decline. Of concern, Chinese FDI is starting to slow as the CPEC projects move towards the finishing line.
Oil is pushing higher despite a surprise build in inventories. West Texas Intermediate trades +0.4% at $61.90 on reopening optimism boosting expectations of future demand. Investors will now look to EIA inventory data later today.
The US Dollar is trading higher versus the Rupee. However, it is trading lower versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index which measures the greenback versus a basket of majors now -0.12% at the time of writing.
Following Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony before Congress on Tuesday investors sold out of the greenback and looked towards riskier currencies after the Fed Chair’s testimony was considered dovish.
The Fed Chair reiterated that the US interest rate will remain low for some time an that the US central bank will continue buying up bonds to support the US economy even as Congress prepares to vote on the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion covid support package.
Jerome Powell highlighted that the US economy was still a long way from the central bank’s inflation and employment goals.
Today there is no high impacting US data. However, Jerome Powell will be testifying for a second day before Congress.
