inr-bank-notes - INR
  • Indian Rupee (INR) rises despite falling domestic stocks
  • Oil prices hover around 7-year highs
  • US Dollar (USD) steady after jobless claims unexpectedly rise
  • No US data due, FOMC in focus next week

The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is moving lower for a second straight session. On Thursday. The pair settled -0.18 lower on Thursday at 74.42. At 15:30 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.07%% at 74.37.

The Rupee is pushing higher despite falling domestic equities and 7-year high oil prices. Indian blue chip stock indices saw steep losses for a third straight day as inflation and policy tightening fears pulled technology stocks lower.

The Nifty 50 closed the session 1% lower, whilst the Sensex closed 1.06% lower. Both indices closed at the lowest level in 2 weeks.

Meanwhile, oil prices continued to trade around 7-year highs on tight supply concerns and even after API data revealed that crude oil stocks piles unexpectedly rose 1.4 million barrels last week.

The US Dollar is falling versus the Rupee but holding steady versus major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades flat at the time of writing at 95.51 extending losses from yesterday.

After surging higher at the start of the week, the US Dollar fell on Wednesday as fears over the Fed acting more aggressively to tighten monetary policy eased.

Today, those fears continued to calm after weaker than expected US jobless claims data. The number of Americans claiming unemployment benefit for the first time unexpectedly rise to 281k last week, up from 231k the previous week. Expectations had been for a decline in claims to 220k.

The jump in initial claims come as Omicron cases surge. The rise in COVID cases is negatively impacting employers.

There is no more high impacting US data due in this session, so the US Dollar could drift sideways. Tomorrow is another quiet day on the calendar, with investors instead looking ahead to the Fed interest rate announcement next week.