Intra-day update: rupee records gain against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar, appreciating 0.07% during the opening minutes of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday. At 10am, the local currency was hovering at 280.05, a gain of Re0.21 against the greenback. On Thursday, the local unit closed at 280.26. Globally, the Japanese yen was pinned near recent lows on Friday while traders waited to see whether the Bank of Japan could convince the market it could keep hiking interest rates into next year, while the euro slipped a bit after the central bank didn’t hint at rate hikes. A US dollar bought 155.59 yen early in the Asia morning, not too far from the yen’s 10-month trough of 157.90 made in November, as markets fretted about Japan’s fiscal position and that policymakers were behind the curve in raising rates.