Indian rupee halts 4 days of gains on wider May trade deficit, Fed outlook

The Indian rupee stopped its rally against the dollar, ending at 82.1750 from the previous close of 82.0950 on Thursday. This came as India’s merchandise trade deficit grew to a five-month high of $22.12bn in May due to a fluctuation in crude oil prices. The currency also weakened due to the US Federal Reserve signalling that it would carry out more rate hikes to control inflation. As a result, the rupee’s one-year dollar forward premiums decreased to a six-month low of 1.69% from 1.75%. Traders are anticipating the European Central Bank policy decision for further cues.