- Indian Rupee (INR) falls for a 2nd day
- Strong equity inflows could limit Rupee losses
- US Dollar (USD) rises on optimism surrounding the consumer
- US housing data is due
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising for a second straight session. The pair rose +0.02% in the previous session, settling on Tuesday at 82.06. At 10:30 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.09% at 82.13 and trades in a range of 82.06 to 82.15.
The Indian Rupee, along with its Asian peers, trends lower on Wednesday, led lower by the Chinese yuan. The offshore Chinese yuan fell for a fourth straight day over worries about the health of the Chinese economy and its growth outlook.
Losses in the Rupee are being limited by strong foreign portfolio investment inflows. Foreign investors have poured more than $4 billion into Indian shares so far this month. Indian equities are at record highs.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at +0.16% at the time of writing at 100.15, extending gains from the previous session.
The US dollar is rebounding for a second day picking up from 15 month low as investors continue to share US retail sales data for June. The data showed that retail sales rose 0.2% month on month below the 0.5% forecast. However, the May figure was upwardly revised to 0.5% and the control group actually jumped 0.6%, defying expectations of a -0.3% decline.
The data suggests that US consumer is resilient despite high-interest rates. This raises the chances that the US will avoid a recession later in the year.
The market is still almost fully pricing in a 25 basis point rate hike next week.
Looking ahead attention now turns to U.S. housing data with the release of building permit figures and housing starts. Investors will be scrutinizing the numbers for clues over the health of the US real estate sector.
