Dollar holds steady before the US vote
Anyone checking the dollar value today in rupees will find little fresh movement in global markets: on Monday the US dollar was roughly flat near 101.94 against a basket of major currencies as investors paused before this week’s US midterm elections. Those contests could change which party controls Congress and how Washington sets spending. For Pakistani readers, local rupee quotes still depend on domestic dealing; the international session itself stayed quiet rather than swinging sharply.
The euro hovered close to a 17-month trough around $1.1159 after Fitch cut France’s outlook to “negative” from “stable” following Friday’s close. Sterling was little moved near $1.3387. The yen slipped about 0.15% to roughly 157.78 per dollar. Australia’s dollar was flat near $0.7033 ahead of a Reserve Bank of Australia decision widely expected to lift the cash rate toward a near two-decade peak of 4.85%. New Zealand’s dollar eased about 0.11% to around $0.5625 after last week’s 1.2% drop when its central bank left rates unchanged.
Midterms, jobs data and central banks
Voters in the United States go to the polls on Tuesday. The contest will show whether Democrats can take Congress from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party. Forecasters broadly expect Democrats to capture the House of Representatives, while the Senate race looks tighter.
Eric Robertsen, global head of research and chief strategist at Standard Chartered, cautioned that polls pointing to strong anti-incumbent feeling do not always match final results, pointing to recent votes in Brazil and Israel. If Democrats take both chambers, he said, planned spending on data centres and AI projects could face more state-level hurdles, and the next fight over raising the US debt ceiling could be especially bitter.
Andreja Cobeljic, head of derivatives trading at AMINA Bank, said hedge funds took “significant losses” in October, leaving markets with “little capacity” for midterm surprises. Beyond the vote, the calendar includes October US employment figures and policy meetings in the United Kingdom, Australia, Norway and Sweden. Oil prices fell more than 1% as talks aimed at ending the Iran war continued.
Crypto still digesting the Binance theft
Bitcoin rose about 0.22% to roughly $77,975.62 after touching a six-week low on Friday. Ether gained about 0.27% to about $2,268.42 after a two-month low last week. Both tokens had been under pressure after a record $6.3 billion theft from Binance, the largest crypto exchange, which the FBI has linked to North Korean hackers.
When Binance returned online on Sunday, customers withdrew about $3.64 billion — some 2.1% of the platform’s assets. The exchange said outflows were calming, deposits stayed “substantial,” and it had already covered 95% of the stolen sum. Richard Forss, chief technology officer at prime broker EXANTE, argued that blockchains may be mathematically hard to break, yet the industry still trusts staff devices: “That assumption is now the weakest point in digital finance.”
For households in Pakistan watching the dollar value today in rupees, a calm global dollar often means less immediate FX shock than a sharp jump would; crypto holders, meanwhile, are still pricing theft risk alongside the midterm week.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Last week: Hackers stole about $6.3 billion from Binance; the FBI has tied the attack to North Korea.
- Last week: New Zealand’s dollar fell about 1.2% after its central bank kept rates on hold.
- Friday: Bitcoin hit a six-week low; Fitch moved France’s outlook to “negative.”
- Sunday: Binance came back online; customers pulled about $3.64 billion as withdrawals spiked then eased.
- Monday: The dollar index steadied near 101.94; euro, sterling, yen and commodity currencies were mostly quiet.
- Tuesday: US midterm voting; Australia’s central bank is widely expected to raise its cash rate toward 4.85%.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Dollar duniya bhar mein is waqt zyada upar neeche nahi chal raha, index lagbhag 101.94 ke qareeb hai. America mein mangal ko midterm elections hain, is liye bazaar intezaar kar rahe hain. Bitcoin aur ether pichhle hafte Binance se bade chori ke baad abhi dheere recover kar rahe hain. Pakistan mein jo log dollar ya crypto dekhte hain, unhein abhi bari jump ke bajaye intezaar aur ehtiyat ka mahaul nazar aa raha hai.
