- Indian Rupee (INR) steady after strong gains
- Falling oil prices offer boosted the Rupee
- US Dollar (USD) eases back from 16 month high versus majors
- US jobless claims due
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is holding steady on Thursday after a sharp drop in the previous session. The pair settled -0.3% lower on Wednesday settling at 74.23. At 11:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.02% at 74.25.
The Rupee gained in the previous session boosted by a weaker USD and falling oil prices. West Texas Intermediate dropped to a six-week low and is on track for its worst weekly performance since March 2020 as global leaders consider releasing strategic reserves in order to tame surging oil prices and sky high inflation.
Weak domestic equities capped gains in the Rupee and foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital markets. The Sensex has traded lower for three consecutive sessions.
The US Dollar is steady versus the Rupee but is falling versus major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.2% at the time of writing at 95.64 easing back from a 16- month high.
The US Dollar is edging lower as US treasury yields slip after quiet economic calendar in the previous session. The US dollar had rallied hard across the early part of the week following the surprising strong inflation print which saw the cost of living in the US jump to 6.2% a 30 year high. The data sparked bets that the Fed could move to raise interest rates sooner rather than later.
However, in the November Fed meeting policy makers said that they wanted to see more improvements in the labour market before hiking rates.
As such, plenty of focus will be on the US jobless claims data due today. Analysts are expecting jobless claims to fall to 260,000 down from 267,000 a new post pandemic low.
In addition to jobless claims, Fed speakers are hitting the airwaves and could provide further clues over when the Fed could move on rates.
