- Indian Rupee (INR) falls, reversing yesterday’s gains
- Manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.3 a 4-month low
- US Dollar (USD) rises on hawkish Fed commentary
- US jobless claims are due
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Thursday, reversing losses in the previous session. The pair settled -0.25% lower on Wednesday at 82.43. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.15% at 82.55 and trades in a range of 82.42 to 82.62.
The Indian Rupee is edging lower as investors continue digesting the latest manufacturing activity data. The manufacturing PMI showed that the sector grew at the slowest pace in 4 months. The manufacturing PMI dropped to 55.3, which was down from 55.4 in January This was still comfortably above the 50 level, which separates expansion from contraction, and well above the long-term average of 53.7.
The data comes after GDP data earlier in the week showed that economic growth slowed in the October to December quarter to 4.4%, down from 6.3% in the prior quarter.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades +0.22% at the time of writing at 104.71, reversing losses from the previous day.
The USD is pushing higher after more hawkish c commentary from Federal Reserve officials. Federal President Raphael Bostic said that the interest rate needs to rise to 5.25-5.5% and stay there until next year. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve official Neel Kashkari said that inflation in the US is still too high, and the risk is under tightening monetary policy rather than overtightening.
Data yesterday showed that manufacturing activity contracted at a faster pace than expected in February. The manufacturing PMI rose to 47.7 in February, up from 47.4 but short of the 48 forecast. That said, the prices paid sub-component jumped to 51.3, up from 44.5.
Today attention remains on the economic calendar with the release of jobless claims figures which are expected to show that the US labour market remains tight. The data comes ahead of next week’s non-farm payroll report.
