- Indian Rupee (INR) rises after 4 days of losses
- Equities gains, Reliance Industries jumps 6%
- US Dollar (USD) eases from fresh 16 month high
- US Thanksgiving holiday
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is heading lower snapping a four-day winning streak. The pair settled 0.24% higher on Wednesday at 74.60. At 13:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.15% at 74.49.
The Rupee is clawing back some of yesterday’s steep losses. Domestic equities are firmer thanks in part to a 6% jump in Reliance its best performance ion six months. This, in addition to gains in IT and automobile producers has helped the Nifty 50 rise 2.4% at one point before easing to close 0.7% higher. The Sensex also gained 0.8%.
Separately oil prices were easing slightly lower with West Texas Intermediate losing -0.5% at the time of writing as traders look ahead to the OPEC+ meeting next week
The US Dollar is trading lower across the board on Wednesday. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.17% at the time of writing at 96.71.
The US Dollar is easing back from fresh 16-month highs reached in the previous session. The dollar surged higher after encouraging data and after the minutes from the November Fed meeting were more hawkish than expected.
US Personal Consumption Expenditure, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation jumped to 5% a 30 year high in October, up from 4.4% in September. Yet despite inflation surging, consumption also increased suggesting that the US consumer remains very resilient even as prices rise.
Jobless claims data also impressed with claims dropping to 199k down from 269k in the previous week. This was the lowest level that claims have been at since 1969. Whilst this could be revised higher on seasonality quirks the trend is still very much in the right direction.
The data prompted speculation that the Fed could raise interest rates soon. A belief which was then confirmed in the minutes from the latest Fed meeting. The minutes showed that there were some policy members who were keen for the tapering process to be quickened should inflation stay high.
