Ella 
The Indian rupee (INR) was flat on Wednesday despite a slight recovery in the US dollar. The upside for the INR may be limited after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a hike in capital gains tax on equity investments and equity derivatives trading during the Budget session of Parliament on Tuesday. However, the prospect of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervening in the market to prevent the currency from depreciating and the fall in crude oil prices may help the INR to stop falling.
Investors will focus on the preliminary HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for India for July, which will be released on Wednesday. In the US, the preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for July will be released. The manufacturing PMI is expected to rise slightly to 51.7 in July from 51.6 in June, while the services PMI is expected to fall to 54.4 in June from 55.3.
