• Indian Rupee (INR) after two days of gains
  • World Bank sees 6.3% growth this fiscal year
  • US Dollar (USD) falls versus major peers
  • US jobs opening drop to a two-year low

The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is falling after two days of gains. The pair rose +0.04% in the previous session, settling at 82.19. At 17:00 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.05% at 82.15 and trades in a range of 82.08 to 82.30.

The World Bank has lowered its growth forecast for India’s current fiscal year which started on April 1st, to 6.3% from 6.6% as it considers that high borrowing costs could hurt consumption. The Reserve Bank of India has raised interest rates by 250 basis points since last May.

The World Bank report said “Rising borrowing costs and slower income growth will weigh on private consumption growth.

Separately oil prices eased slightly after strong gains yesterday following the announcement by OPEC that it will cut oil production by 1.1 million barrels. Today recession fears are pulling oil off recent highs.

The US Dollar is rising against the Rupee but falling against its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades -0.4% at the time of writing at 101.63, extending losses from the previous session.

The US dollar is heading southwards after weak data raised fears that the US economy is heading towards a recession, fueling bets that the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes at the May meeting.

US job openings fell to the lowest level in nearly two years, suggesting that the US labour market is finally cooling and factory orders declined for a second straight month.

The JOLTS job openings data dropped to 9.9 million in February, down from 10.5 million in January and below the 10.4 million forecast. This is the first time in two years that the number of job openings has fallen below 10 million.

Factory orders were also weaker than expected dropping -0.7%  MoM in February, after falling -2.1% in January. Expectations had been for a decline -0.5%.