- Indian Rupee (INR) falls after gains yesterday
- Reserve Bank of India foreign exchange reserves rise
- US Dollar (USD) is set to rise this week
- Trump & China appear to soften their stance
The US dollar-to-Indian rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising on Friday after modest losses yesterday. The pair fell -0.05% in the previous session, settling on Thursday at 85.29. At 18:30 UTC USD/INR trades +0.08% higher at 85.36 and is in a range of 85.05 to 85.63.
The Indian rupee as falling against the stronger U.S. dollar tracking Indian equities move lower. The Sensex settled -0.74% lower.
Data from the Reserve Bank of India showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves rose for a seventh straight week, reaching a six-month high of $686.15 billion as of April 18th. Reserves rose by $8.3 billion in the reported week after increasing by $39.2 billion across the prior six weeks. Reserves are just $19 billion away from the record high of $704.89 billion reached in late September.
Changes in foreign currency reserves are caused by the central bank’s intervention in the forex market.
The Indian rupee gained around 1.8% last week, and foreign portfolio inflows into Indian equities also picked up.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.13% on Friday to 99.51 after losing yesterday.
The US dollar is on track to gain across the week, marking the first weekly increase following four straight weeks of declines. This year’s steep selloff has seen the US dollar fall around 8.5% against the basket of currencies, reaching a three-year low earlier this week.
It would appear that the sell-America move is overdone as fears of the worst-case scenario in a trade war ease. Both Trump and China appear to have softened their tone slightly this week, which has helped the market mood. The US dollar is lifting from multi-year lows, and U.S. stocks are also rising.