- Indian Rupee (INR) falls for a fifth straigth day
- Oil tumbles to a 6-week low
- US Dollar (USD) falls versus major peers after gains yesterday
- Some Fed officials are still hawkish
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising for a fifth straight session. The pair rose +0.06% yesterday, settling at 81.52. Today, at 12:30 USD/INR trades +0.15% at 81.64, trading in a range between 81.51 to 81.78. The pair is set to rise 1.42% across the week after three weeks of declines.
Demand for the US dollar by importers is leading the Rupee lower, even after oil prices tumbled. West Texas Intermediate has fallen to its lowest level in six weeks on concerns over the demand outlook. As COVID cases rise in China and global recession fears rise
The Reserve Bank of India reported that the Indian economy is expected to grow between 6.1% to 6.3% in the second quarter of the fiscal year. The forecast comes after the analysis of high-frequency indicators and the use of prediction models.
The central bank added that if this is achieved, India will be on track for growth of around 7% in 2022/23.
The US Dollar is rising versus the Rupee but falling versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at -0.1% at the time of writing at 106.57 after rising 0.37% yesterday. The dollar is set to rise 0.24% across the week.
The US is easing, handing back gains from yesterday. The dollar had rallied in the previous session after Federal Reserve speakers pushed back on the idea that the US central bank would be less aggressive in hiking interest rates to lower inflation.
Federal Reserve President of St Louis, James Bullard, said that rate hikes so far had only had a limited effect on inflation so far. He added that rates would need to rise to a minimum 5% -7%. Meanwhile, Fed President Neel Kashkari said that the central bank shouldn’t stop hiking rates until it was clear that inflation had peaked.
