- Indian Rupee (INR) extends gains
- Indian equities hover around all time highs
- US Dollar (USD) rises versus majors after Janet Yellen revived taper expectations
- US CPI data later in the week is eyed
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is slipping lower on Monday extending losses from Friday. The pair settled -0.25% lower on Friday at 72.86 although the pair gained 0.65% across the week. At 11:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.07% lower at 72.80.
The Indian Rupee is tracing domestic equities higher at the start of the week. Indian stocks hover around fresh record highs hit on Friday as covid cases fell to a 2-month low and some states eased lockdown restrictions. New covid cases were at 100,636 on Monday, and have remained under 200,000 for a week.
The Nifty 50 climbed 0.3% on Monday and the Sensex 0.17% adding to 1% gains from the previous week.
Oil prices were also easing lower on Monday after reaching a fresh yearly high on Friday. West Texas Intermediate trades -0.5% at $69.15.
The US Dollar is trading lower versus the Rupee. However, it is heading higher versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades +0.04% at the time of writing at 90.17 as it picks up from steep losses on Friday.
The US Dollar dropped on Friday following weaker than expected US non farm payroll report. The US jobs market saw 559,000 new jobs created in May, below the 650,000 forecast. Whilst this was still a solid reading it was seen as taking the pressure off the Fed to taper support, pulling the greenback lower.
Over the weekend US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comments revived tapering expectations, lifting US treasury yields and the US Dollar.
Whilst there is no high impacting US data due today, investors will be watching the US consumer inflation reading closely for furt5her clues as to whether the rise in prices is transitory as the Fed believes.
