- Indian Rupee (INR) hovers around record lows
- Domestic equities and oil prices rose
- US Dollar (USD) rises after a strong US jobs report
- US NFP unexpectedly rise
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Friday for a second straight session. The pair settled +0.36% higher on Thursday at 79.30. At 14:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.2% at 79.30. The pair is set to rise 0.5% across the week.
The Indian Rupee is trading lower in risk-off trade following the strong than forecast US jobs data. The Rupee trades lower across the week amid rising concerns surrounding surging USD strength. A stronger dollar is bad news for emerging market currencies and the USD trades at around a 20-year high.
The Indian equity market closed 0.5% higher as metal stocks recovered. Elsewhere oil prices rose for a second straight day as supply concerns overshadowed recession fears. However, oil prices are still set to fall 4% across the week as recession fears hurt the demand outlook.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades +0.05% at the time of writing at 107.13 after small losses yesterday. The USD is set to rise 1.9% across the week, after rising 0.9% across the previous week.
The USD is rising following a much stronger than expected US non-farm payroll report. The US reported 372,000 new jobs added in June, well above the fall to 270k forecast and just below May’s 390k. Whilst it was the third straight month of declines, the data shows that there aren’t really any recession fears seeping into the labour market yet.
Instead, the data supports the more hawkish Federal Reserve stance. With high inflation and a solid jobs report, there seems little reason for the Federal Reserve not to hike rates by 75 basis points in the July meeting. The pre-pricing of rate hike expectations pushed the USD higher.
