USD/INR down onshore and offshore on FIIs, lower Brent
2 May 2019 / Evening Brief
Indian Rupee
- The rupee settled at 69.36 against 69.56 at the previous close. The local unit moved in 69.34 -69.6250 per dollar band intra-day.
- Dollar/rupee traded down in both onshore and offshore markets Thursday afternoon on FII inflows into the local stocks and a slide in oil prices. Dollar/rupee in the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market maturing in one month traded at Rs 69.88/$1 during European trades and Rs 69.97/$1 at the start of Indian market Thursday. The pair traded at Rs 69.90/$1 at close of Indian market on Tuesday. The spot pair traded at Rs 69.55/$1 compared to its open of Rs 69.61/$1 and previous close of Rs 69.56/$1.
Global Currency
- The dollar was holding on to gains early Thursday in Europe after the Federal Reserve poured cold water on the idea of cutting interest rates any time soon. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his regular press conference that Fed officials “don’t see a strong case for moving in either direction,” indicating that it believe the weakness of inflation and private demand in the first quarter will be temporary..
- The pound hit its highest in nearly a month against the euro in early trade on the back of weaker-than-expected German retail sales data for March. A string of manufacturing and construction PMI reports in the course of the morning may change that. The euro was back at $1.1198 EUR=EBS , after reaching as high as $1.1265 overnight.
Global Markets
- Gold fell to its lowest in a week on Thursday, as the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) doused expectations of a near-term rate cut and on lack of physical demand in Asia.
- Oil prices fell on Thursday, pulled down by record U.S. crude production that led to a surge in inventories. Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $71.47. Brent is set for a weekly loss, which would break its longest string of weekly gains for a year.
Global Markets at one Glance
| Markets at 5.00pm | In INR | % Change | |
| USD/INR | 69.37 | 69.37 | -0.25 |
| EUR/USD | 1.12087 | 77.78 | -0.08 |
| GBP/USD | 1.30474 | 90.47 | -0.24 |
| USD/JPY | 111.472 | 0.62 | -0.33 |
| SEK/INR | 9.5334 | 7.2765 | -0.01 |
| DKK/INR | 6.180 | 11.2250 | 0.49 |
| AUD/USD | 1.4243 | 48.70 | -0.22 |
| DXY | 97.40 | -0.3 | |
| Index | Today | % Change |
| NIFTY | 11748.15 | -0.06 |
| SENSEX | 39031.55 | -0.09 |
| NIKKEI | 22258.73 | -0.22 |
| HANG SENG | 29699.11 | -0.65 |
| SHANGHAI | 3078.3389 | 0.52 |
| CAC# | 5568.27 | -0.23 |
| FTSE # | 7264.61 | 0.0042 |
| DAX # | 12331.75 | 0.03 |
| Commodities | Today | % Change |
| GOLD # | 1285.8398 | 0.49 |
| SILVER# | 14.925 | 0.55 |
| BRENT # | 73.04 | 1.39 |
| NYMEX # | 64.43 | 1.46 |
| Today | Today |
| OPEN | 69.6100 |
| HIGH | 69.6250 |
| LOW | 69.3400 |
| CLOSE | 69.3600 |
Key Events of the Day
| Date | Time | Currency | Event | Actual | Forecast | Previous |
| 2-05-2019 | 13.25 | EUR | German Manufacturing PMI (Apr) | 44.4 | 44.5 | 44.5 |
| 2-05-2019 | 14.00 | GBP | Construction PMI (Apr) | 50.5 | 50.4 | 49.7 |
| 2-05-2019 | 16.30 | GBP | BoE Interest Rate Decision (May) | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0.75% |
