USD/INR – Trading Lower On USD Weakness

Rupee strengthened yesterday, which is not unexpected as a technical squeeze leading to the downside was already in the works based on price action analysis. However, prices was expected to only feel the squeeze between the 62.9 resistance and the rising trendline, not from 62.5 as the resistance appeared to be broken. But instead of pushing higher, prices actually dipped lower, pushing below the trendline and reached 62.0 – 62.1 soft support by the end of US trading session. Prices took an additional tumble during Asian hours today after the aforementioned support has been broken.

As it was an Indian bank holiday yesterday, there wasn’t any domestic fundamental developments. Hence the decline in USD/INR yesterday can be wholly attributed to the weakness in USD, which has actually weakened against all major currencies except CAD on a D/D basis. This is true for price movement today as well, and therefore puts some doubt whether bears have what it takes to break 61.5 since there is very little fundamentals supporting a stronger INR.

Hourly Chart

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From a technical perspective, bearish momentum is continuing for now with Stochastic readings pointing lower despite forming a bullish cycle signal just a few hours prior when 62.0 soft support was still holding. However, it is still possible for a short-term bullish pullback as there is a long tail Hammer candlestick rebounding from the 61.5 level. Should Stoch readings rebound from 20.0 low as well, we could see prices move up to test 62.0.

Weekly Chart

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Weekly Chart shows prices dipping below the Rising Channel Top. However, we’ve been through this before, hence do not automatically assume that price will simply move down quickly from here. Nonetheless there are some encouraging technical signs – Stochastic readings have broke below the 50.0 “support”, and suggest that the next leg of bearish momentum will continue. Based on the distance away from the Oversold region, we could potentially see prices pushing into the 59.0 – 61.3 consolidation range, where bullish pullback can be expected before the channel “break in” can continue towards Channel Bottom.

Not much change in the fundamentals since we’ve last discussed USD/INR. But for now it seems that USD will continue to weaken in the short-term due to Debt ceiling fears and also less QE Tapering jitters. Hence this would be the best opportunity for USD/INR to break into the Channel. If RBI Governor Rajan is smart, he would make use of the opportunity to send Rupee higher as momentum is in his favor.

More Links:
WTI Crude – Short Squeezed Above 103.0 on Bullish Hysteria
GBP/USD – Continues to place pressure on Resistance Level at 1.6250
AUD/USD – Continues to struggle at Resistance at 0.94

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Mingze Wu

Mingze Wu

Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Based in Singapore, Mingze Wu focuses on trading strategies and technical and fundamental analysis of major currency pairs. He has extensive trading experience across different asset classes and is well-versed in global market fundamentals. In addition to contributing articles to MarketPulseFX, Mingze centers on forex and macro-economic trends impacting the Asia Pacific region.
Mingze Wu