USD/INR Price News: Indian rupee buyers attack 75.00 on mixed concerns

• USD/INR stays pressured around intraday low, up for snapping three-week advances on weekly basis.
• India Manufacturing PMI grew at the fastest pace in 10 months, trade deficit refresh all-time high.
• Fedspeak, Omicron news keep markets on the sidelines ahead of Friday’s US jobs report.

USD/INR remains on the back foot around 74.95, down 0.12% intraday during early Thursday morning in Europe. The Indian rupee (INR) buyers seem to ignore the broad US dollar rebound, backed by yields, amid varied catalysts at home.

That said, India’s factory activity growth jumped to a 10-month top in November, per the latest PMI figures, up 57.6 versus 55.9 prior. However, the trade deficit widened the most on record during the last month, $23.3 billion from $19.9 billion in November.

Elsewhere, India reports a sustained increase in the daily covid infections, by 9,765 at the latest versus 8,954 yesterday. On the same line were the virus-led death tolls that rose past 267 prior to 477 per the latest data shared by Reuters.

It should be noted that India joined the global leaders, unfortunately, to mark the arrival of the South African coronavirus variant at home and tightened border checks.

On a broader front, the first Omicron case in the US pushed President Joe Biden’s administration to extend the rules for wearing a mask in public transit, the same seems to put a floor under the US 10-year Treasury yields around 1.42%.

Further, Fed Chair Jerome Powell stepped back from conveying his inflation woes during the second day of testimony whereas Fed New York President John C. Williams and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester were more hawkish of late. Additionally, China hints at more bond issuance and easy money, which in turn helps Asia-Pacific shares to trade mixed even as the market sentiment sours.

Given the USD/INR pair’s latest weakness contrasting the yield and USD’s latest performances, traders will seek more clues to consolidate the moves. In doing so, weekly US Initial Jobless Claims and a slew of Fed policymakers’ speeches may entertain traders but major attention will be given to the coronavirus news and Friday’s US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP).

Technical analysis

Triple-top around 75.20 makes it the tough nut to crack for USD/INR buyers. For now, a pullback towards October’s low near 74.70 becomes imminent.