• USD/INR scales higher to 77.67 amid broader strength in the greenback.
• The Indian rupee has weakened despite falling oil prices.
• An embargo on Russian oil by Europe could delay amid opposition by Hungary.

The USD/INR pair has witnessed a strong upside move at the open and has climbed to near 77.70 despite the US dollar index (DXY) is trading lackluster in the Tokyo session.  The DXY is bid directionless amid a light economic calendar this week.

Major key events for the DXY will be the release of the US Retail Sales and the speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Jerome Powell. The US Retail Sales are expected to land at 0.7% against the prior print of 0.5%. A higher-than-expected figure will open doors for the DXY to renew its 19-years high. The DXY is currently trading in a tight range of 104.43-104.65 after hitting a latest 19-year high of 105.00 on Friday.

Apart from that, Fed Powell’s speech will hold significant importance. This will provide cues of the decision-making behind the monetary policy dictation by the Fed in June.

Oil prices are dropping sharply on Monday as lower China Retail Sales have renewed fears of a slump in aggregate demand. The black gold has tumbled below $107.00, easing more than 1.6%, at the press time, in the Asian session. The investment community is focusing on the announcement of the European embargo on Russian oil imports. The European Union (EU) is expected to delay the expected ban after receiving an objection from Hungary.