- Indian Rupee (INR) under pressure as New Delhi announces curfew
- IMF rises global growth forecasts to 6%
- US Dollar (USD) pares earlier gains
- JOLTS jobs openings in focus
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is edging higher on Tuesday paring losses from the previous session. The pair settled -0.1% on Monday at 73.29. At 14:30 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.2% at 73.43.
The Indian Rupee trades on the back foot as covid cases remain elevated in the country. Once again new daily infections hovered around the 100,000 level. The Indian capital Ne Delhi has imposed a night time curfew until April 30 in order to attempt to bring the resurgence of covid under control.
Concerns are growing over the impact that such restrictions will have on India’s economic recovery.
In more upbeat news, the International Monetary Fund raised the global growth outlook to 6% in 2021, up from 5.5% in January. This would market the strongest global growth in over 4 decades, led by a strong US rebound.
The US Dollar is gaining versus the Rupee. However, it is slipping lower versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.07% at the time of writing at 92.50 having pared earlier gains and extending losses from the previous session.
The US Dollar Index declined 0.4% in the previous session and hit a two-week low overnight. The greenback saw its largest daily decline in three weeks despite a strong US economic outlook.
The US Dollar has rallied in the first quarter of the year amid rising expectations of as strong US economic recovery.
The US non farm payroll released on Friday was much stronger than expected. ISM service sector data released on Monday showed that the US economy was firmly on the right track. The ISM service sector PMI for March hit 63.7 whereby 50 separates expansion from contraction.
Attention will now turn to JOLTS job opening data due later today and is expected to support the narrative of the recovering US labour market.
