- Indian Rupee (INR) rises as subscriptions open
- LIC is expected to be the largest IPO in India
- US Dollar (USD) falls with the Fed meeting in focus
- US ADP & ISM services expected before Fed
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is moving lower on Wednesday for a fourth straight session. The pair settled -0% lower on Tuesday at 76.46. At 11:30 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.19% at 76.31.
The Rupee is finding support from inflows as state-owned Life Insurance Corp (LIC) $2.7 billion initial public offering gets underway. India’s largest IPO saw subscriptions open today and is expected to raise just a third of its original target.
Just a 3.5% stake in the company is being floated giving it an initial value of $78.52 billion.
Subscriptions are set to close on May 9th and the price range has been set between 902 rupees to 949 rupees
The US Dollar is falling across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.07% at the time of writing at 103.39 extending losses from the previous session.
The US dollar slipped lower yesterday despite strong data. US factory orders rose by more than expected in March, at 2.2%, after falling by -0.5% in February. The US manufacturing sector appears to be holding up well, despite concerns over supply chain disruptions on the horizon as China extends its lockdown.
US JOLTS job openings were also at a record high of 11.5 million vacancies in March showing just how tight the US jobs market is. This also gives the Fed more leeway to tighten monetary policy.
The Fed is due to announce its interest rate decision today. A 50 basis point rate hike is priced in. The big question is what comes next? Will the Fed lay out a steeper path to hiking interest rates and reducing the $9 trillion balance sheet?
A more hawkish-sounding central bank could boost the value of the US Dollar, which had come close to a 20-year high earlier in the week.
Prior to the Fed meeting US ADP private payroll data and ISM services PMI data will be in focus.
