The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) was bearish against the US Dollar (USD) and posted losses during intraday trade today.
It depreciated by 0.22 percent and closed at Rs. 223.17 after losing 50 paisas against the greenback. The local unit quoted an intraday low of 223.87 against the greenback.
The local unit was all red in the morning against the greenback and opened trade at 223.5 in the open market. By midday, the greenback moved higher against the rupee. After 1 PM, the local unit was red and stayed on the 223 level against the top foreign currency before the interbank close.
The rupee reported losses for the sixth consecutive day against US Dollar today after the IMF visit for Pakistan’s ninth review was further delayed.
Sources told ProPakistani that the lender wanted Pakistan to submit its price/financing estimations for flood-related humanitarian assistance along with estimates of priority rehabilitation expenditure subject to payment mechanisms of the previously agreed IMF review.
Money changers stated that today’s drop is in line with last week’s forecast that the PKR will continue to remain under pressure due to persistent importer dollar demand. Furthermore, a drop in foreign exchange reserves and ongoing political turmoil weighed heavily on the rupee’s sentiment.
They reiterated the current regulatory clout and policy bottlenecks had created sporadic shortages of the greenback.
Globally, oil prices gave up early gains on Friday and were on track for a second weekly loss, weighed down by worries about weakening Chinese demand and further interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve. Both benchmarks are on track for a second weekly loss. Brent is on track to fall more than 6 percent, while WTI is down 8 percent.
At 3:30 PM, Brent crude was up by 0.09 percent at $89.86 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up by 0.38 percent to settle at $81.95 per barrel.
With the European Union’s ban on Russian crude nearing December 5 and the OPEC+ tightening supply, recession concerns have dominated this crude markets week. The premium of adjacent Brent futures over barrels loading in the next six months fell to $4.28 per barrel, the lowest since August, implying less concern about future supply.
The PKR was bearish against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost 12 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 13 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 13 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), 31 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), and 35 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP).
Conversely, it gained four paisas against the Euro (EUR) in today’s interbank currency market.
