- Indian Rupee (INR) traces equities higher
- Indian growth could slow as RBI hikes rates
- US Dollar (USD) eases from 20 year high
- US consumer confidence data due
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is falling on Friday after holding steady in the previous session. The pair settled +0.01% higher on Thursday at 77.42. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.12% at 77.32. The pair is set to rise 0.5% this week, marking its fifth straight weekly rise.
The Indian Rupee is tracing domestic equities higher. Strong demand for the Life Insurance Corp initial public offering is offering some support to the Rupee as it trades just off record lows.
India’s Life Insurance Corp has its IPO price offering at the top of the indicated range at 949 rupees ($12.28). This would be at the top end of the range set between 902 rupees and 949 rupees. The state-owned insurance giant is expected to be listed on May 17 and was oversubscribed 2.95 times as the six days of bidding ended on May 9.
Separately warnings that India’s economic growth could slow if the Reserve Bank of India hikes interest rates could keep a lid on sentiment. The Central bank is likely to raise its inflation projection for its current fiscal year at its June monetary policy meeting.
The US Dollar is falling across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades -0.2% at the time of writing at 104.60 after reaching a fresh 20 year high on Thursday at 104.93.
The US dollar surged higher in the previous session as investors bought into the greenback for a combination of safe-haven flows and on hawkish Fed bets.
Fears that the Fed will need to hike rates aggressively, which would slow global growth, have dominated the markets this week after inflation slowed by less than expected.
US consumer confidence data is due later today and is expected to show that morale fell in May to 64, down from 65.2.
