- Indian Rupee (INR) treads water as equities rise
- Chinese authorities supported the yuan
- US Dollar (USD) rises versus its major peers
- US jobless claims rise
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is holding steady for another session. The pair fell -0.01 in the previous session, settling on Wednesday at 82.05. At 18:30 UTC, USD/INR trades +0.02% at 82.06 and trades in a range of 81.91 to 82.08.
The Rupee is proving to be resilient against a stronger USD. The Rupee has found some support from improvement in risk appetite after the Chine authorities took moves to support the yuan.
Meanwhile, Indian equities pushed higher led by Reliance Industries and a broad gain across sectors which overpowered a slide in IT stocks. The Nifty 50 closed 0.75% higher at 19,979 while the Sensex gained 0.7%. Both indices hit all-time highs for the fifth time in a row.
Meanwhile, oil prices are holding steady. West Texas Intermediate trades +0.3% at $75.82 at the time of writing.
The US Dollar is steady against the Rupee but rising versus its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades at +0.6% at the time of writing at 102.92, extending gains for a fourth straight day.
The US dollar is extending gains After US jobless claims data surprise to the downside once again. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell to its lowest level in two months, highlighting the ongoing tightness in the US labour market despite the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates aggressively.
According to data from the labour department number of initial claims for unemployment benefits dropped to 228,000, down from 237,000 in the previous week and well below the 242,000 forecast.
The strong labour market supports the view that the US economy could avoid a recession as the market becomes increasingly convinced that the Fed could raise interest rates just once more this year.
