• Indian Rupee snaps two days of gains against USD
  • India’s WSI inflation eased to 13.93% in July
  • RBI expected to hike rates next month
  • US Dollar index firm ahead of the release of Fed minutes

Indian Rupee edged higher against the greenback building on gains from the first trading session of the week. At the foreign exchange market, the value of Rupee appreciated by 34 paise on Tuesday settling up +0.43% at 79.17 against the US dollar. The USD/INR exchange rate was seen trading on Wednesday within a trading range of 79.16 and 79.31.

Currently, one US dollar buys 79.26 rupees, up 0.11% as of 6:57 AM UTC.

India’s wholesale inflation eased to 13.93% year-over-year in July down from a 15.18% increase in June. This has fueled expectations that the RBI will hike rates again next month to tame down double digits inflation readings.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of major currencies is up +0.67% since the start of the week.

Meanwhile, the precious metal gold traded lower on the dollar comeback and settled -0.21% at $1,775.82 per ounce.

Elsewhere, according to the National Stock Exchange of India, domestic institutional investors were net sellers in the local equity market worth Rs 136.24 crore while foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth Rs 1,376.84 crore.

The domestic benchmark equity index NIFTY 50 settled up 0.72% at 17,825.25 on Tuesday.

The Indian 10-year government bond yield was seen up 0.30% at 7.289%.

Looking forward, the US Federal Reserve is set to release its minutes from its previous policy meeting, where it hiked rates by 0.75 basis points. Additionally, US retail sales are expected to give traders further insights into the state of the US economy.