The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.06% during the opening minutes of trading in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 280.23, a gain of Re0.18 against the greenback. On Tueesday, the local unit closed at 280.41. Globally, the Japanese yen held steady in early Asian trading after a powerful 7.5-magnitude earthquake