- Indian Rupee (INR) is falling for a 3rd day
- Riskier assets fall and safe haven assets rise
- US Dollar (USD) rises versus its major peers
- US JOLTS job openings rise
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is rising for a third straight day. The pair rose 0.05% in the previous session, settling on Monday at 83.75. At 19:00 UTC, USD/INR trades 0.19% at 83.91 and is in a range of 83.79 to 83.95.
The Indian rupee is falling lower against the safe-haven U.S. dollar as investors sold out of riskier assets following reports that Iran has launched a missile attack on Israel.
The announcement also sent oil prices surging, with WTI rising by almost 3% at one point. Iran’s involvement raised the supply risk and, therefore, the risk premium on oil.
Separately, India’s factory growth cooled to an 8-month low in September. The manufacturing PMI fell to 56.5 from 57.5.
The US Dollar is rising across the board. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at +0.57% at the time of writing at 101.25, marking the third day of gains.
The US dollar has surged higher against its major peers as the market flocks into safe-haven assets amid rising concerns about tensions in the Middle East.
The USD, the reserve currency of the world, and the Japanese yen, another safe haven, are outperforming major peers.
The U.S. dollar is also finding support after Federal Reserve Jerome Powell adopted a more hawkish tone in a conference speech at the start of the week. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell lowered expectations over a 50 basis point rate cut in November. Powell signaled that the Fed was on track to cut rates twice more this year by 25 basis points in November and 25 basis points in December.
On the data front, US ISM manufacturing was slightly weaker than expected, and jolts jobs opening figures came in above forecast at 8.04 million, up from 7.71 million.
