- Indian Rupee (INR) falls as risk off trade continues
- 190,000 Russian troops around the Ukraine border
- US Dollar (USD) rises on safe haven flows
- US – Russia meeting on Tuesday
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is falling lower on Friday, paring gains from the previous session. The pair settled +0.1 higher on Thursday at 75.1. At 11:30 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.58% at 74.66. The pair is on track to lose 0.9% across the week.
The Rupee trades lower as risk aversion drives the market. Riskier assets and currencies, such as the Rupee were out of favour and safe havens rose, as headlines pointed to tensions rising in eastern Europe.
Despite the market mood starting off firmer after Russia’s foreign minister and US secretary of state agreeing to meet on Tuesday. Risk sentiment quickly dived after the US said that around 190,000 Russian troops were now around the Ukraine border in what is being called the most significant military mobilization since World War 2. Russia repeated earlier this week that it had no plans to invade Ukraine.
Indian stocks ended the day lower. The Nifty 50 fell 0.16% and the Sensex closed 0.1%, with both indices booking the second weekly decline.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades +0.25% at the time of writing at 96.05 adding to gains yesterday.
The US dollar pushed higher yesterday as investors focused on Russia, Ukraine developments and despite weaker than expected US jobless claims.
Initial claims unexpectedly rose last week to 248,000, up from 225,000. Analysts had expected initial claims to fall to 219,000. Whilst this was the first rise in a month, its also worth noting that claims remain historically low.
Today the US dollar is rising again on safe haven flows as Russia, Ukraine headline continue to dominate.
