Karachi: Rupee registered slight improvement against dollar, appreciating 0.03 percent in interbank market. At close, domestic unit settled at 278.32, gain of 0.10 paisa against dollar.

Globally, dollar edged higher on Tuesday and major currencies traded sideways as lingering concerns over tensions in Middle East partially offset investors' optimism for imminent US interest rate cuts.

Against basket of currencies, greenback was last 0.05 percent higher at 100.90, languishing near 13-month low of 100.53 hit in previous session.

Fed's aggressive rate-hike cycle and expectations of how much further US rates could rise had been  huge driver of dollar's strength over past two years, keeping other currencies, particularly Japanese yen, under pressure.

Oil prices, key indicator of currency parity, slipped slightly on Tuesday after rebounding more than 7 percent over previous three sessions on supply concerns prompted by fears of widening Middle East conflict and potential shutdown of Libyan oil fields.

Brent crude futures were down 30 cents, or 0.4 percent at $81.13 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped 40 cents, or 0.5 percent to $ 77.02.