Indian Rupee Steady As Higher Oil Offsets Dollar Weakness

The Indian rupee little changed at 69.59 pair now at 69.52 against 69.67 previous close.
Pair to tip in 69.45-69.80 range today.
The Indian rupee was little changed against the dollar in early trade, as jump in crude oil prices offset opening gains on broad greenback weakness despite in-line U.S. factory data. Brent crude prices trading above $71 per dollar is a systematic risk for the rupee, which was earlier being ignored due to persistent foreign fund inflows. Volatility might increase due to election uncertainty. Dollar inflows from rights issue of a telecom maker will be eyed for further cues. However, most of these flows have been hedged in the forward.

The dollar sagged on Tuesday after weak U.S. economic data while commodity-linked currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars drew support from an ongoing surge in crude oil prices. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies stood little changed at 97.083 .DXY after losing 0.35 percent the previous day, marking its biggest daily decline since March 20.
The euro was effectively flat at $1.1256 EUR= after advancing 0.4 percent on Monday, when it ended a two-day losing streak. The pound was unchanged at $1.3062 GBP=D3 , having traded in a narrow range so far this week, reflecting nervousness in the market about key Brexit talks between Prime Minister Theresa May and the opposition Labour Party.

Oil prices eased on Tuesday, slipping away from 5-month highs reached earlier in the session as a sluggish economic outlook countered an otherwise tight market. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 oil futures also hit a November 2018 high.
Gold inched higher on Tuesday, trading just below a more than one-week peak hit in the previous session, as Asian equities eased and the dollar weakened following sombre U.S. economic data. U.S. gold futures GCv1 gained 0.1 percent to $1,302.80 an ounce.

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