India Rupee Logs Worst Wk In 3 Mths On Importer Bids, Trade Data

The rupee settled at 69.3550 against 69.49 at the previous close. The local unit moved in 69.33-69.61 per dollar band intra-day.
The Indian rupee posted its biggest weekly drop in three months against the dollar, as oil and other importers stepped up greenback purchases while trade gap widened. Weak trade data and importers’ dollar demand amid higher crude oil prices were some of the factors that kept the dollar/rupee pair higher during the week. This week being a truncated one, trading volumes too were impacted. For the next trigger, the trade deal between the US and China will be the key factor to watch out for, along with the trends of general elections.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.672, also showing no sign of breaking out of the narrow range it has been in since the end of March. The dollar has struggled for direction although it rose 0.5% against the Korean won after the announcement of a new weapons test from North Korea, first since the breakdown of talk with the U.S. last year.
The euro fell to a one-week low on Thursday after weak manufacturing surveys in Europe raised concerns about an economy struggling to gain traction before the long Easter weekend. The single currency was up as much as 0.1 percent before the data but fell 0.4 percent to its lowest level.

Oil prices eased on Thursday, although a decline in U.S. inventories, ongoing supply cuts from OPEC and its allies, and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran all limited losses.
The roof isn't falling in on China yet. At least not in the way gold bugs had hoped. But the dollar isn't reaching towering heights, so that's working out for the yellow metal.

Date	Time	Currency	Event	Actual	Forecast	Previous
18-04-2019	13.00	EUR	German Manufacturing PMI (Apr)	44.5	45.0	44.1
18-04-2019	14.00	GBP	Retail Sales (MoM) (Mar)	1.1%	-0.3%	0.6%

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