• Spot rupee ended weaker at 92.45/46 to a dollar level after opening at 92.34/35 level. During the day, the rupee hit an all time low of 92.4850 level amid a sharp sell off in equity markets. Benchmark indexes closed about 2 lower, for the third consecutive session amid worries about escalating Mid east tensions.
• DXY is trading firm at 100.13 level. EURUSD is trading sharply lower at 1.1455 level. Data from Europe were mixed. France revised its February inflation was revised lower to show 0.6 m/m growth versus 0.7 m/m preliminiary report. Germany revised its WPI for February to 0.6 m/m growth versus 0.3 m/m preliminary data.
• GBP fell sharply after data showed that UK economic growth stalled at the start of the year, with GDP showing no expansion in January, falling short of expectations for a modest 0.2 m/m rise. Services data showed flat growth, while Construction posted 0.2 mom growth, but Production data showed decline. Looking at the broader trend, the UK economy still managed a modest expansion of 0.2 in the three months to January, an improvement from the 0.1 growth recorded in the three months to December
• Markets will be looking forward to the US Preliminary GDP data.
• Important data releases scheduled today: US: Prelim GDP q/q; Core PCE Price index m/m; Durable goods orders m/m; Core Durable goods orders m/m; Prelim GDP price index q/q; Personal Income, Expenditure m/m; JOLTS Job Openings ; Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment; Inflation expectations.

The rupee continues to trade under pressure as energy prices remain volatile and foreign investors keep pulling money out of local stocks. At the time of writing, the local unit was hovering near its lifetime low of 92.37. Equity market benchmarks were trading about 0.8 lower in early deals.

Data released yesterday showed that India’s February CPI rose 3.21 y/y versus 2.74 rise in January, largely in line with market expectations.