Rupee closes at 276.72, a gain of Re0.03 against the dollar

The Pakistani rupee closed at 276.72 to the dollar on Monday, a gain of Re0.03, or 0.01%, in the inter-bank market, extending a run of marginal appreciation that has done little to change the currency's broader position.

The move follows a week in which the rupee rose 0.03%, closing at 276.75 against 276.82 a week earlier, according to State Bank of Pakistan data. Gains of a few paisa a day are the currency's recent pattern rather than a turn in direction.

The external backdrop is busier. The dollar held steady against a basket of currencies at 101.94 as investors waited on US midterm elections, October US jobs data and rate decisions in the UK, Australia, Norway and Sweden. The euro sat near a 17-month low of $1.1159 after Fitch revised France's outlook to negative, and sterling was little changed at $1.3387.

Oil, a key indicator of currency parity, fell more than 3% after a third day of Iranian and Qatari talks aimed at pushing for a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. Brent dropped $3.68, or 3.2%, to $109.75 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate fell $3.43, or 3.3%, to $100.69.

In digital assets, bitcoin and ether were nursing losses after last week's record $6.3 billion heist at Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange.