- Pakistan Rupee (PKR) snaps 3 day winning streak
- Karachi 30 closed -1.3%
- US Dollar (USD) steady versus major peers near 2 week low
- US jobless claims
The US Dollar Pakistan Rupee (USD/PKR) exchange rate trades flat on Thursday after slipping lower in the previous session. The pair settled -0.2% lower on Wednesday at 159.10. At 10:15 UTC, USD/PKR trades at the same level of 159.10.
Reduced demand for the US Dollar from importers has underpinned the value of the rupee in recent trade, enabling the Pakistani currency to appreciate versus the US Dollar.
Today the Rupee is tracing domestic equities lower. The benchmark Karachi 30 closed on Thursday -1.3% at 19,220.
Oil prices are slipping lower offering some support, snapping an eight day winning run. West Texas trades 0.8% lower but continues to trade around 13 month highs.
The US Dollar continues to hover around 2 week lows in mid European traded dragged down by dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. The US Dollar Index trades just a few pips higher at 90.42 at the time of writing
Speaking to the Economic Club of New York yesterday, Federal Reserve Chair Powell said that the US jobs market still a significant distance from fully recovered. He added that the Fed isn’t considering lifting interest rates from their current near zero level. Dovish Powell’s supportive stance could keep the US Dollar under pressure
Jerome Powell’s comments come after weaker than forecasts US inflation in January. US CPI recorded 0.3% rise month on month missing expectations of 0.4%. However, core inflation which strips out more volatile items such as food and fuel gained 0.2% month on month missing forecasts of 0.3%.
Looking ahead, US jobless claims numbers will be in focus. The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits are expected to slip slightly to 757,000. This would be down from last week’s 779,000.
