The Indian rupee (INR) continued to trade lower on Thursday amid renewed demand for the US dollar. The three-day monetary policy meeting of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) begins on Wednesday. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday.
The Reserve Bank of India is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at 6.50% at its fifth consecutive monetary policy meeting. Inflation above the 4% target, volatile crude prices and concerns about El Niño and agricultural output will keep the central bank on hold.
Investors will focus on U.S. initial jobless claims for last week, which will be released later on Thursday. The focus this week will be the Reserve Bank of India’s interest rate decision and US employment data, including Friday’s non-farm payrolls and unemployment rate. Nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase by 185,000 in November, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 3.9%.