- Indian Rupee (INR) steadies after losses last week,
- Indian corporate earnings point to a slowdown
- US Dollar (USD) rises to a 4-month high versus major peers
- Trump trade boosts the USD
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is holding steady at the start of the week. The pair rose 0.37% in the previous session, settling on Friday at 84.39. Today, at 15:00 UTC, USD/INR is unchanged 0% at 84.39 and traded in a range of 84.36 to 84.08.
The Rupee is holding up despite weakness in the Indian domestic equities market. Concerns over corporate earnings are pressurizing equity markets. Top Indian companies registered their worst quarterly showings in over four years in the July to September period, raising concerns of an economic slowdown.
Over 50% of the 44 firms in the Nifty 50 that have reported earnings so far and have missed analysts’ estimates or reported results in line with expectations.
This marks the worst performance since March 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign investors have moved out of Indian equities as the benchmarks have dropped around 8% from their record closing highs in September. This is partly owing to foreign investors moving investments to China in the wake of recent stimulus.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, is rising 0.5%, trading at 105.5, adding to last week’s gains.
The US dollar is surging on Monday as the Trump trade continues.
The US dollar rose last week and is extending those gains on expectations that the Federal Reserve will need to ease monetary policy more slowly in the face of the Trump administration’s inflationary policies.
The main event for this week will be US inflation data, which is expected to tick higher to 2.6% year on year, up from 2.4%. The markets will also be watching comments from Federal Reserve speakers for further clues over the outlook for monetary policy.
