- Indian Rupee (INR) falls as the services PMI slows
- Rupee is set to fall across the week
- US Dollar (USD) rises ahead of the jobs data
- 190k jobs are expected to be added in January
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Friday for a second straight session. The pair settled +0.38 higher on Thursday at 82.03. At 11:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.26% at 82.25 and trades between a range of 82.04 to 82.29. The pair is set to gain 0.9% across the week.
The rupee is easing again after data showed that solid growth in India’s service sector slowed last month after hitting a six-month peak in December. The services PMI fell to 57.2 in January, down from 58.5 in December, missing forecasts of 58.1. The level 50 separates growth from contraction and the service sector has remained in growth for an 18th straight month.
The data shows that orders we’re softening fuelling caution in some companies’ outlooks for the year.
The data comes as India’s economy is expected to grow between 6 to 6.8% in the coming fiscal year, down from 7% projected for the current year, owing to an expected slowdown in global demand.
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 101.92, adding to gains yesterday. The USD is set to end the week flat.
The US dollar is heading higher for a second day amid a risk-off mood in the market following disappointing earnings from tech bellwethers Amazon Apple and alphabet yesterday. The results showed that depressed consumer confidence and rising costs were negatively impacting these tech giants.
Looking ahead, attention is on the US nonfarm payroll data, which is expected to show that The US created 190,000 jobs in January, down slightly from the 223,000 created in December. Given the weaker-than-expected ADP private payroll numbers but the stronger-than-forecast jobless claims data, the nonfarm payroll is expected to come in approximately in line with estimates.
Separately wage growth is expected to hold steady at 0.3%, and the unemployment rate is expected to tick higher to 3.6% up from 3.5%. A weaker-than-expected report could fuel expectations or a less hawkish Federal Reserve and pull the US dollar lower.
