• Indian Rupee (INR) rises for a 5th straight day
  • Domestic equities & oil rise
  • US Dollar (USD) edges lower as investors seek riskier currencies
  • US GDP & consumer confidence due

The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is moving lower for a fifth straight day. The pair settled -0.04% lower on Tuesday at 75.51. At 11:30 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.23% at 75.51.

The Rupee is rising thanks to a broad risk on sentiment in the financial markets, even as Omicron fears continue to linger. Investors are moving into riskier assets such as shares as well as riskier currencies such as the Rupee.

Domestic equities have closed over 1% higher on Wednesday for a second straight session, as auto and metal stocks lead the gains. The Nifty 50 ended 1.1% higher and the Sensex gained 1%.

Oil prices are also extending gains, with West Texas Intermediate trading 0.5% higher as countries push back on further lockdown restrictions until more data on Omicron is available.

The US Dollar is trading lower across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.06% at the time of writing at 96.43 extending losses for a third straight session.

The US Dollar is edging lower as investors sellout of the safe haven greenback in favour of riskier currencies.

This week has been a quiet week for US economic data. However. that is set to change today with the release of US Q3 GDP, consumer confidence and existing home sales.

The US GDP for the July to September period is expected to see a modest upward revision to 2.1% from the preliminary reading of 2.0% growth. This would mark a significant slowdown from the 6.7% growth recorded in the second quarter.

There are multiple reasons for the slowdown including rising Delta COVID cases and supply chain disruptions which limited growth. Personal consumption which was strong in the first two quarters of the year slowed considerably in the third quarter to just 1.7% down from 11%.