The Indian Rupee is strengthening versus the US Dollar for a second straight session on Wednesday.
At 11:15 UTC, USD/INR was trading at 75.33, after closing Tuesday’s session at 75.41. The pair is trading in the middle of its daily range of 75.32 – 75.34.
Chinese Manufacturing Activity Expands
On the first day of the new quarter investor sentiment remains fragile. Rupee investors took some heed from a key survey that showed Chinese manufacturing activity rebounded in March after grinding to a standstill in February amid the coronvirus outbreak. The Caixin manufacturing PMI reached 50.1 on the index, whereby the figure 50 separates expansion from contraction. China is India’s largest trading partner, so signs of a strengthening Chinese economy is good news for India.
Also supporting sentiment was a move by the Reserve Bank of India to open up large parts of its sovereign bond market to overseas investors. Global funds will be able to buy 5, 10 and 30 year bonds as from today.
A large scale sell off of Indian equities and bonds by foreign investors has dragged on the Indian Rupee across the previous quarter. The previous quarter, January – March saw the Indian Rupee lose 5.94% of its value or 424 piase, as foreigners withdrew more than $14.5 billion in capital outflows in the first quarter as coronavirus rattled the global financial markets.
US Manufacturing & ADP Data In Focus
The US Dollar is trading broadly higher versus its major peers on Wednesday as coronavirus fears continue to haunt the market. President Trump warned that between 110,000 – 240,000 Americans could dies from the coronavirus. The sheer size of these numbers sent a chill through financial markets. US futures are pointing to a weaker start and the US Dollar advances as investors sell out of risker assets and move into safe havens.
Investors will now look ahead to US ISM manufacturing data. Analysts are expecting a decline in activity to 45 on the index in March, down from 50.1 the previous month. The decline is expected as some factories in the US opted to close amid the coronavirus outbreak.
US ADP payroll data will also be watched carefully for an insight into the health of the US labour market ahead of the US non farm payroll report on Friday. Analysts are expecting -150,000 job losses in the private sector.
