Intra-day update: rupee strengthens against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered significant gain against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday. At 10:20am, the local currency was hovering at 280.90, up by Re0.21 against the US dollar. On Thursday, the local unit closed at 281.11, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Globally, the US dollar remained on the back foot on Friday as global trade frictions and signs of weakness in the US economy supported the case for more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The dollar index is set for its biggest weekly drop in almost three months as an extended shutdown of the US government blocked the publication of key economic data. The yen held on to gains after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda spoke about factors that could lead to a rate increase this month.