- Indian Rupee (INR) falls after a flat week last week
- Indian GDP rose to 8.4% in the Oct-Dec quarter
- US Dollar (USD) falls versus major peers
- US manufacturing activity contracted by more than forecast
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising after a flat finish last week. The pair fell -0.02% in the previous week, settling on Friday at 82.84. At 12:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.07% at 82.89 and trades in a range of 82.82 to 82.90.
The rupee is edging lower on Monday; however, the downside could be limited after data showed that India’s GDP grew considerably more than economists had expected in the October to December quarter.
The Indian economy grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in the December quarter, expanding by 8.4%, well ahead of the 6.6% forecast.
Separately Indians foreign exchange reserves increased by $2.975 billion to $619.072 billion for the week concluding February 23rd.
Attention will now be turning towards the Indian S&P Global Services PMI for February, which is expected to be released tomorrow.
The US Dollar is rising against the Rupee but falling versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at -0.03% at the time of writing at 103.83, after small losses last week.
The U.S. dollar fell at the end of last week after US manufacturing PMI missed forecasts quite considerably, coming in at 47.8 in February versus the 49.5 expected. The level 50 separates expansion from contraction. Delving deeper into the numbers, the sector showed demand slowing, a downturn in new orders gathering pace, and selling prices rising at the quickest rate since April.
Looking ahead today, there is no high impacting US data; instead, attention will be on Federal Reserve officials who speak ahead of a busy week for US macro events.
Tomorrow sees the release of ISM manufacturing PMI data; meanwhile, the closely watched nonfarm payroll report will be on Friday.
Also, this week, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell will be testifying before Congress, and any comments regarding the outlook for interest rates could move the dial.
