- Indian Rupee (INR) rises for a second day
- RBI intervenes to lift the Rupee
- The US Dollar (USD) is rising versus major peers
- US ISM services PMI hit a 14-month high
The US dollar-to-Indian rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is falling for a second straight session. The pair fell -0.14% in the previous session, settling on Tuesday at 90.10. At 21:30 UTC on Wednesday, the pair is falling 0.17% at 89.86.
The Indian rupee has gained sharply against the US dollar, strengthening as the Reserve Bank of India intervened to counter excessive one-way moves. This marks the RBI’s first intervention of 2026. In December last year, the RBI intervened multiple times after USD/INR reached an all-time high of 91.55.
However, the rupee is likely to remain under pressure amid renewed trade worries between the US and India, as well as consistent foreign institutional investor selling in the Indian equity market.
Earlier this week, Donald Trump threatened to lift tariffs on India for not supporting the Russian oil issue, which is directly linked to New Delhi’s purchase of oil from Moscow.
Trump imposed 50% tariffs on exports from India to the US, including a 25% punitive tariff on Russian oil imports.
The US Dollar is falling against the Rupee but rising against its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the US dollar against a basket of major currencies, is up 0.16% to 98.73, marking a second day of gains.
The US dollar is edging slightly higher against its major peers investors digest mixed data.
December ASM services index supported the move higher, the PMI unexpectedly grew at the fastest pace in 14 months to 54.4. This was up from 52.2 in November.
This data came after slightly weaker-than-expected ADP private payrolls, which showed employers added 41,000 private-sector payrolls, below the 47,000 expected but still up from the 32,000 decline in November.
Job openings were also weaker than expected, with fewer than expected. Both reports are dovish on Fed policy. The jobs data comes ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payroll.
Separately, the US dollar is supported after the USA sanctioned a Russian-flagged tanker for violations of sanctions.