FUNDAMENTAL
OVERVIEW
USD:
The US dollar regained some ground to start the week as the prolonged
US-Iran stalemate has taken oil prices back into triple digit levels.
That looks unlikely to change anytime soon as Trump has rejected Iran’s
proposal to first open the Strait of Hormuz and then hold nuclear talks.
Unfortunately, with US stock prices at all-time highs Trump might not feel any
pressure to concede.
This might even set the stage for the next US dollar rally if the Strait of
Hormuz remains closed for much longer and oil prices stay elevated, thus
forcing the Fed to hike interest rates in the coming months.
Today, we have the FOMC policy decision and although the Fed is expected to
keep everything unchanged amid the US-Iran uncertainty, there’s a risk of a
more hawkish leaning due to resilient US data and a longer than expected
US-Iran war. A neutral Fed shouldn’t bring much volatility, but a more hawkish
one could give the greenback a boost.
INR:
On the INR side, the
US-Iran stalemate led to another selloff with the Indian Rupee erasing all the
gains since the start of the month and now approaching the record lows. The
currency will likely remain under pressure as long as the situation in the
Strait of Hormuz remains unresolved.
In the big
picture, the Indian Rupee remains on a bearish structural trend against the US dollar,
so the dip-buyers will likely look for opportunities around strong technical
levels to keep pushing into new highs.
USDINR TECHNICAL
ANALYSIS – DAILY TIMEFRAME
On the daily
chart, we can see that USDINR extended the gains yesterday on broad US dollar strength. The
natural target for the buyers is the all-time high around the 96.00 handle. If
the price gets there, we can expect the sellers to step in with a defined risk
above the level to position for a drop back into the 94.00 level. The buyers,
on the other hand, will look for a break to increase the bullish bets into new record
highs.
USDINR TECHNICAL
ANALYSIS – 4 HOUR TIMEFRAME
On the 4 hour
chart, we have an upward trendline defining the current bullish momentum. We
can expect the buyers to continue to lean on the trendline with a defined risk
below it to keep pushing into new highs. Tomorrow, we get the US Q1 GDP,
the US Employment Cost Index and the latest US Jobless Claims figures
