• Indian Rupee (INR) rises despite domestic equities falling
  • Indian unemployment rises to 7.8%
  • US Dollar (USD) falls as FOMC meeting begins
  • US factory orders, job vacancies due

The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Tuesday after booking small losses in the previous session. The pair settled -0.07% lower on Monday at 76.47. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.2% at 76.63.

The Rupee rose in the previous session after data revealed that the manufacturing sector ramped up further in April as COVID restrictions eased and despite input prices rising.

Today the data was less encouraging revealing that India’s unemployment rate rose to 7.8% in April, up from 7.6% in March, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. The urban rate of unemployment rose to 9.22%.

Elsewhere domestic equities were heading lower with the Sensex trading 0.5% lower and the Nifty 50 trading 0.85% lower.

Oil prices remain elevated as the EU moves towards a phased ban of Russian oil imports. West Texas Intermediate trades at $103.35.

The US Dollar is rising versus the Rupee but is falling versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades -0.3% at the time of writing at 103.43 paring gains from yesterday.

The US dollar rallied higher in the previous session despite weaker than forecast manufacturing figures. The closely watched ISM manufacturing PMI unexpectedly fell to 55.4 in April, marking the slowest growth in the sector in more than 18 months.

Instead, the USD has been boosted by the prospect of a more hawkish Federal Reserve, as the central bank meets today to begin the two-day monetary policy meeting.

The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates by 50 basis points tomorrow, announce plans to trim its $9 trillion balance sheet and adopt a more aggressive approach to taming inflation.

Ahead of tomorrow’s meeting US factory orders and JOLTS job vacancy data are due. Vacancies are expected to remain above 11 million, highlighting just how tight the US jobs market is.