- Indian Rupee (INR) falls after 4 -weeks of gains
- Wholesale inflation cools to a 30-month low
- US Dollar (USD) rises after stronger data & hawkish Fed comments
- Fed speakers in focus this week
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising after booking losses across the previous week. The pair fell -0.02% in the previous session, settling at 81.84. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.1% at 81.93 and trades in a range of 81.97 to 81.84.
The repay is heading lower after four straight weeks of gains as investors digest the latest Indian wholesale inflation data. India’s annual hotel price-based inflation, WPI, how to its lowest level in 30 months in March at 1.34% year on year. This was down from 3.85% in the previous month and lower than unless forecasts of 1.87%.
Input costs have been falling across the world and inflation in India has started to show signs of easing over the last few months. Last week government data showed that India’s annual retail inflation rose at the slowest pace in almost 15 months.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades +0.16% at the time of writing at 101.72, after booking losses across last week.
The US dollar is pushing higher, extending games from Friday after U.S. consumer confidence improved and the inflation expectations ticked higher.
University of Michigan consumer confidence unexpectedly rose to 63.5 in April up from 62. I’m list had expected a slight dip to 61.8. However, inflation expectations looking 12 months ahead jumped from 3.6% to 4.6%, jesting that uncertainties surrounding inflation expectations remain elevated.
Over the weekend US Federal Reserve president Christopher Waller said that The US central bank hadn’t made much progress in returning inflation to the 2% target and could need more interest rate hikes in order to tame inflation.
According to the Fed watch tool the market is now pricing in an 83% probability that the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points in the May meeting.
There is no high-impacting U.S. economic data due today. However, there are plenty of fed speakers to hit the airwaves across this week who should provide further clues on what to expect from The Fed in May.
