- Indian Rupee (INR) falls even after a 50-basis point rate hike
- More hikes are expected
- US Dollar (USD) rises on hawkish Fed bets
- US CPI data is due on Friday
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Wednesday, paring losses from the previous session. The pair settled -0.19% lower on Tuesday at 77.64. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.14% at 77.75.
The Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates for a second straight month. The central bank hiked rates by 50 basis points, as expected, to control runaway inflation. The key lending rate, or the repo rate, now sits at 4.9%. The RBI governor had indicated that a hike was coming, although analysts were divided on whether it would be a 25 or 50 basis point rate hike.
The RBI also dropped the use of the word “accommodative,” supporting expectations that there will be more monetary policy tightening in the coming months.
According to the central bank, Inflation in India is expected to remain above the RBI’s upper tolerance band in the first three quarters of the financial year, which started on April 1.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades +0.18% at the time of writing at 102.60 after a flat finish to trading yesterday.
The US dollar gave up earlier gains yesterday after 10-year Treasury yields fell below the critical 3% level. However, the move didn’t last long, and yields are once again on the rise, bringing the US dollar higher.
With little in the way of US economic data and with Federal Reserve speakers quiet ahead of next week’s monetary policy meeting, investors are focusing on expected central bank action. The Federal Reserve is expected to hike rates aggressively over the upcoming meetings to tame inflation which is hovering around a 40-year high.
There is no high-impacting data today. Friday’s CPI release is the key release this week.
