The Pakistani rupee strengthened marginally against the US dollar during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Friday.

At 10:10 am, the currency was trading at Rs278.2, a gain of Rs0.21 against the greenback. On Thursday, the rupee had settled at Rs278.41 against the US dollar.

In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been fluctuating between Rs277-279 against the dollar. The slight strengthening of the rupee comes as the US dollar found its footing after data on Thursday showed the US economy expanded faster than expected and inflation slowed in the second quarter.

The dollar index, which measures the US unit versus six rivals, was little changed at Rs104.35. Traders are also anticipating further rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve this year, with 66 basis points of easing expected.

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Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, were up slightly on Friday on stronger-than-expected US economic data that raised investor expectations for increasing crude oil demand from the world’s largest energy consumer. However, concerns about soft economic conditions in China and Japan capped the gains.

Brent crude futures for September rose 7 cents to $82.44 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 4 cents to $78.32 per barrel.