- Indian Rupee (INR) is holding steady
- Indian equities fell this week & oil jumped
- US Dollar (USD) eases versus major peers
- US core PCE data is due later
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is holding steady again on Friday. The pair rose +0.02% in the previous session, settling on Thursday at 83.14. At 10:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.01% at 83.13 and trades in a range of 83.08 to 83.24.
The US Dollar is holding steady against the Rupee but is falling versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades -0.19% at the time of writing at 103.37, after strong gains yesterday.
The US dollar is easing lower ahead of US inflation data and after strong gains in the previous session.
The US dollar rallied yesterday following stronger-than-expected GDP growth in the final quarter of the year. The US economy registered growth of 3.3% in Q4 on an annualized basis, down from 4.9% in the previous quarter but well ahead of the 2% growth that economists had forecast. The upbeat growth came thanks to robust consumer spending.
The strong data comes as the Federal Reserve has been attempting to slow economic activity in order to cool inflation.
Today, US core PCE data is due to be released on those expected to show that inflation in the world’s largest economy cooled again to 3% year on year in December, down from 3.2% in November.
Robust growth and inflation, which is still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target level, would give the central bank little reason to start cutting interest rates early.
The Federal Reserve interest rate decision will be held next week, and the central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged.
