- Indian Rupee (INR) eases as domestic equities fall
- Oil prices rise over 1.5%
- US Dollar (USD) rises on hawkish Fed bets
- Fed Chair Powell is due to speak
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Wednesday, paring losses from the previous session. The pair settled -0.2% lower on Tuesday at 76.13. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.16% at 76.25.
The Rupee is edging lower as domestic equities slip and oil prices push higher. Global equities are edging lower as risk sentiment falters, as the Russia, Ukraine war continues, and as oil prices rise.
The Sensex trades -0.37% at 57,760 and the Nifty 50 trades -0.4% at 17,240.
Oil prices are on the rise amid growing concerns over global supply as further sanctions are applied on Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter. Plunging oil stockpiles have added to concerns surrounding supply. EIA data is due later. West Texas Intermediate is rising 1.5% at $110.90.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades +0.1% at the time of writing at 98.60.
The US dollar has been rising across the past four-session amid growing expectations of a more hawkish Federal Reserve.
Yesterday Fed speakers continued to point towards a more aggressive stance to tightening monetary policy. Federal Reserve Mester said that he expects interest rates to be at around 2.5% by the end of 2022, which would mark a steep path of rate hikes. He also added that he would expect there to be more rate hikes at the start of the year compared to towards the end of the year.
His comments come following comments by the Federal Reserve Chair earlier in the week when he indicated that the Fed could hike rates by 50 basis points in a meeting if that is what the economy needed.
Today the US economic calendar is rather light with just US existing homes sales due. More attention is likely to be on Fed Chair Powell, who is due to speak later.
