- Pakistan Rupee (PKR) heads lower
- Pakistan could go into lockdown soon
- US Dollar (USD) trades at 6 week low versus major peers
- No high impacting US data due
The US Dollar Pakistan Rupee (USD/PKR) exchange rate is on the rise on Wednesday after a subdued start to the week. The pair closed flat in the previous session at 152.60. At 11:00 UTC, USD/PKR trades +0.5% at 153.45.
The Rupee is under pressure as the covid situation in Pakistan turns increasingly grim. The National Command & Operations Centre chief Asad Umar warned that the country was just days away from having to impose much tighter lockdown restrictions in order to stem the spread of the virus.
Domestic equities were offering little in the way of support after the Kararchi 100 closed the session 0.2% lower following a 1% rally in the previous session, supported by political clarity. Foreign institutional buyers were net buyers of Rs119.8 million worth of shares on Monday
The US Dollar is rising across the board on Wednesday. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades +0.1% at the time of writing at 91.36 as it continues to recover from a 7 week low hit in the previous session.
The US Dollar is picking up in risk off trade as investors continue to fret over rising covid cases in India and Pakistan and the impact that this could have on the global economic recovery. Between the two counties sits 20% of the world’s population and 14% of global GDP.
The risk off mood sent equities tumbling in the previous session and US futures are pointing to a weaker start as the sour mood in the market continues. Flows towards the US Dollar are on the rise as investors seek out its safe haven properties.
There is little in the way of economic data today so the US Dollar is likely to be driven by sentiment and treasury yields.
