- Indian Rupee (INR) eases after gains yesterday
- Equities fall, oil tumbles
- US Dollar (USD) falls versus major peers
- US PPI data in focus
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Tuesday paring losses from the previous session. The pair settled -0.13% lower on Monday at 76.43. At 10:30 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.11% at 76.61.
The Rupee in trading lower following domestic equities southwards in volatile trade as investors digest a mix of headlines. On the one hand, economic data from China was upbeat, pointing to a strong start to the year with both industrial production and retail sales coming in around double the forecast level.
However, COVID cases are rising rapidly with new daily infections around levels last seen at the start of the pandemic. China has locked down around 45 million inhabitants and banned travel in Jilin province. Concerns over economic growth are hitting risk sentiment, pulling riskier assets and currencies lower whilst lifting safe havens such as the Japanese yen.
Oil prices have fallen sharply lower on the back of the China lockdowns and optimism surrounding Russia, Ukraine peace talks which are set to continue today. West Texas dropped 5% yesterday and is trading a further 5% lower today back below $100 per barrel. This could at least limit the losses in the Rupee.
The US Dollar is rising against the Rupee but falling versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades -0.22% at the time of writing at 98.78 after finishing flat in the previous session.
The US Dollar is trading lower today but continues to hover around 20-month highs amid fears over the economic outlook for China despite the strong data.
Attention will now turn to the US wholesale inflation data, as measured by the producer price index. The PPI is expected to rise to 8.7% year on year up from 8.3%.
The data comes ahead of the Federal Reserve interest rate decision tomorrow. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points.
