India Rupee Slips As Oil Importers' Bids Erase Early Gains

The rupee settled at 71.25 against 71.11 at the previous close. The local unit moved in 70.91-71.27 per dollar band intra-day.
The Indian rupee edged lower against the dollar, as greenback demand from oil importers and Federal Reserve’s January minutes outweighed early gains from likely inflows. Dollar inflows related to a corporate bond issue lifted the rupee in opening trade, despite oil prices sustaining over $67 per barrel. Reversal in the Fed’s comments also lifted the dollar, hurting emerging market currencies. We expect the local unit to remain under pressure until crude prices hover near 2019 highs, while change in Fed commentary will also help the greenback rebound. Geo-political tensions at home will underpin weakness in the domestic currency.

The euro edged higher on Thursday after surveys showed business activity was surprisingly firm in February, particularly in France, while the Australian dollar fell after a Chinese port banned imports of the country's coal. The euro's reaction highlights the heightened sensitivity of the currency towards any good news.
The dollar index that measures the dollar against a basket of major currencies was at 96.297, close to a two-week low. That's despite a broadly balanced set of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting that indicated that interest rates could still rise later in the year if the current uncertainty over the economy clears.

Gold slipped on Thursday from a 10-month high hit the previous session, after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting kindled expectations of an interest rate hike this year, while palladium retreated from an all-time peak.
Oil prices hovered around 2019 highs on Thursday, bolstered by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, but were capped by slowing growth in the global economy.

Date	Time	Currency	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
21-Feb-19	14.00	EUR	German Manufacturing PMI (Feb)	47.6	50.0	49.7

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