- Indian Rupee (INR) eases further after losses last week
- RBI foreign reserves rose to $818,937 bn
- US Dollar (USD) falls versus major peers
- US GDP & inflation data are due this week
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising at the start of the week after gains last week. The pair rose 0.28% in the previous week, settling on Friday at 83.02. At 17:00 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.12% at 83.08 and trades in a range of 82.77 to 83.21.
The Indian Ruppe is trading with a slight negative bias at the start of the week despite several ministers at the World Economic Forum annual meeting last week noting that the country’s economic growth is encouraging.
Data on Friday showed the Indians foreign exchange reserves increased by $1.634 billion to $618.9 37 billion for the week ending January 12th, according to data from the RBI.
The RBI governor Das also said that the central bank won’t consider interest rate cuts until inflation has reached the 4% target on a persistent basis.
Meanwhile, other data last week also said that the Indian GDP grew by 7.2%. In the last fiscal year, which was down from just over 9% a year earlier.
The US Dollar is rising 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 -0.05% at the time of writing at 103.25, after gains in the previous week.
The US dollar is holding steady at the start of the new week after booking gains across last week.
The U.S. dollar rallied as investors reassessed the likelihood of an early interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve after a series of stronger-than-expected data which highlighted the resilience of the US inquiry and after hawkish comments from. Federal Reserve officials.
According to the CME fed watch tool, the market is now pricing in a 50/50 probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by at least 25 basis points in the March meeting. This is down from around 85% that was being priced in at the End of December.
There is no major U.S. economic data due to be released today. Investors will be to head to the US Q4 GDP released on Thursday and core PCE, the Fed’s preferred gauge for inflation, which is set to be released on Friday
Meanwhile, US earning season ramps up this week with big names such as Netflix and Tesla due to report Q4 results. These could also impact sentiment in the financial markets.
