- Indian Rupee (INR) rises after losses yesterday
- Domestic equities fall
- US Dollar (USD) holds steady after weak PMI data
- Hawkish Federal Reserve bets support the USD.
The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate fell on Friday, snapping two days of gains. The pair rose 0.45% yesterday, settling at 82.84. Today, at 17:30, USD/INR trades -0.13% at 82.73, trading in a range between 82.62 to 82.99. The pair is set to rise 0.4% across the week, its second straight week of gains.
The Indian rupee fell against the US currency extending its weekly decline I made strong dollar demand from oil importers and other importers. Analysts suggest the Rupee could have lost more today if it hadn’t been for regular injections of dollar supply from public sector banks.
Domestic equities ended the session lower, and shares fell for a second straight week after a hawkish Federal Reserve raised recession fears.
The Nifty50 fell 1.2% this week, and the Sensex dropped 1.3%, the biggest weekly decline since September.
Separately oil prices fell over 2% on demand worries as recession fears rose.
The US Dollar is falling against the Rupee but holds steady against its major peers. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies, trades -0.01% at the time of writing at 104.57, after strong gains yesterday.
US dollar is holding steady on Friday after surging 0.7% higher in the previous session as investors continued to price in a more hawkish Federal Reserve. Earlier in the week, The Fed indicated that it would be raising interest rates higher than initially expected in 2023 and also pushed back on expectations of a rate cut later on in the year.
Today investors were looking at U.S. business activity data which raised concerns over a recession in the world’s largest economy. Both the services PMI and the manufacturing PMI slowed by more than expected. The composite PMI, which is considered a good gauge for business activity, fell to 44.6 in December, down from 46.4.
