inr-bank-notes - INR
  • Indian Rupee (INR) looks to monthly losses
  • Covid crises deepens, cases to peak next week
  • US Dollar (USD) rises versus major peers after solid data
  • US spending and personal income surged in March

The US Dollar Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate is trading lower for a seventh straight session on Friday. The pair settled -0.53% lower on Thursday at 74.10. At 14:45 UTC, USD/INR trades -0.1% at 74.01. The pair is set for weekly losses of 1.2%, however across the month of April the pair is set to rise 1.2%.

The Rupee fell across the month of April as the covid crisis deteriorated. The number of covid cases reached a fresh record on Friday with over 380,000 new infections recorded. Experts believe that cases should peak next week.

So far, the dire covid situation in India has not had a huge impact on the economic health of the country. Economists polled by Reuters have not cut their upbeat outlooks on the country by much so far. However, there could be more downgrades coming.

The Indian economy is expected to have contracted by 7.5% in the fiscal year which ended in March. Most economists expect a rebound of 10.4% growth this year. This is only down slightly fron 11% growth forecast at the start of April.

The US Dollar is falling versus the Indian Rupee. However, it trades firmly higher versus its major peers on Friday. The US Dollar Index, which measures the greenback versus a basket of major currencies trades +0.66% at the time of writing at 91.21. Despite the rise, the US Dollar index is set for weekly losses.

The US Dollar is strengthening after upbeat US data. US consumer spending rebounded in March as households received additional stimulus checks from the Federal government. Consumer spending surged 4.2% in March after falling 1% in February.

The data came following GDP data on Thursday. The data showed the US economy grew at 6.4% in the first quarter of the year. This was ahead of the 6.1% forecast.

Recent US data indicates that the economic recovery is on track.