India Rupee At 1-Wk High On Oil Decline, Banks’ Dollar Sales

The rupee settled at 71.07 against 71.3350 at the previous close. The local unit moved in 71.07-71.30 per dollar band intra-day.
The Indian rupee gained for a second consecutive session, rising to a one-week high against the dollar as crude oil prices headed for a third session of decline and foreign banks sold the greenback in late trade, likely for corporate clients. Rupee’s movement was in tandem with the most Asian peers that were also constrained in a range, but some sentiments were aided today tracking oil move. However, as domestic budgetary concerns persist, chances of rupee deprecation in coming days are more. Immediate trigger for rupee will be any surprises on the ECB policy front and dollar movement.

The U.S. dollar pushed higher against a basket of its rivals on Thursday but gains were held in check amid concerns over global growth, the U.S. government shutdown and the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.
The euro fell on Thursday ahead of a European Central Bank meeting in which policymakers may express caution about slowing economic growth. The ECB is expected to reaffirm its plan to raise interest rates by the end of the year but traders will focus on how explicitly, if at all, the central bank acknowledges the slow-down.

Oil rose on Thursday, shaking off persistent concern about the outlook for demand after the U.S. government said it could impose sanctions on OPEC member Venezuela's crude exports. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 10 cents at $61.24 a barrel by 1010 GMT, having touched a session high of $61.38.
Gold struggled to build on the overnight attempted rebound and remained under some selling pressure for the second consecutive session. The precious metal failed to capitalize on the early uptick to the $1285 area.

Date	Time	Currency	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
24-01-2019	14.00	EUR	German Manufacturing PMI (Jan)	49.9	51.4	51.5

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