- Indian Rupee (INR) falls as GDP growth slows
- Growth slows as the RBI looks to raise interest rates
- US Dollar (USD) rises on hawkish Fed comments
- US consumer confidence data due
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Tuesday paring yesterday’s losses. The pair settled -20% lower on Monday at 77.53. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.17% at 77.67.
The Rupee trades under pressure as economic growth in Indian slows. Asia’s third-largest economy is expected to have grown by 4% in the January to March quarter compared to a year earlier, this would mark the slowest pace of growth in a year and comes after growth of 5.4% in the previous quarter.
Surging prices and the resultant slowdown in consumer spending and investment are expected to continue dragging on economic growth in India and come at a time when the Reserve Bank of India is looking to raise interest rates to tame surging inflation.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades +0.3% at the time of writing at 101.75, building on gains from last week.
The US dollar is rising boosted by comments from Federal Governor Christopher Waller, who said that he expects outsized interest rate hikes to continue. He added that he would hike rates above the 2.5% neutral level to bring inflation down and added that he believed that the US economy could absorb the more aggressive approach to raising interest rates.
His comments lifted the US dollar which has traded under pressure recently as falling inflation and recession concerns had prompted speculation that the Fed would take its foot off the hiking pedal.
Today attention is turning back to the US economic calendar as trades return from the Memorial Day public holiday.
US consumer confidence is expected to fall to 103.9 in May, down from 107.3 in April. A larger than forecast fall in sentiment could unnerve investors and hurt demand for the USD.
