Geopolitical tensions mounted after Russia stationed well over 130,000 troops

The USDINR pair made a flat opening at 75.61 levels and traded in the range of 75.33-75.71 with an upside bias. The USDINR pair has closed the trading session at 75.33. The RBI set the reference rate at 75.6611. Initially, the USDINR pair rose because some state-owned banks stepped in to purchase US dollars on behalf of oil marketing companies, noting sharply elevated crude oil prices. However later in the day, the USDINR pair reversed its early gains and slipped as risk sentiment improved after concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict eased. Geopolitical tensions mounted after Russia stationed well over 130,000 troops along the three sides of Ukraine.

But today, the Russian military said some of its troops are expected to return to their bases as a number of drills have finished. Moreover, a sharp rise in domestic share indices also supported the Indian currency. The dollar index also came off its earlier high after Russia-Ukraine tensions eased, noting which banks cut their existing bets in favor of the dollar. The unemployment rate in the UK remained unchanged at 4.1% at the end of December, below the 4.2% consensus forecast from economists polled.

German investor sentiment rose in February on expectations that restrictions to contain COVID-19 will ease, allowing growth in Europe's largest economy to pick up, a survey showed. Eurozone economic growth slowed sharply q-o-q as expected in the last three months of 2021, as activity was hit by another wave of COVID-19 infections and surging prices that cut into disposable incomes.

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