The Indian rupee strengthened against the US Dollar on Wednesday, as market continued to assess Trump's plans on tariffs and oil production on his first day in the office.
The domestic currency strengthened by 2 paise to open at 86.56 against the dollar, according to Bloomberg data. It had settled at Rs 86.58 a dollar on Tuesday.
The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against the six major currencies, was up 0.05% at 108.11, according to Bloomberg.
March futures of WTI crude fell sharply by 2.6% and were trading at $75.89 a barrel, while brent crude March futures traded flat at 9:08 a.m. According to Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, market weighed President Trump's declaration of a national energy emergency on his first day in office and its implications.
Trump has laid out a sweeping plan to maximise oil production, after withdrawing from Paris Climate pact, rolling back environment protection and going in for his campaign 'Drill Baby Drill'.
"The Federal Reserve's data-dependent stance remains intact, with market consensus leaning toward a possible June rate cut," said Kunal Sodhani of Shinhan Bank. "For USDINR, 86.30 acts as a support while 86.65 a resistance."
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