• USD/INR has scaled sharply above 82.00 as the RBI has kept its first bi-monthly policy unchanged.
• Considering the contagion risk from global banking jitters and uncertainty, a steady policy has been chosen.
• Geopolitical tensions between the United States and China are keeping risk-sensitive assets on their toes.

The USD/INR pair has scaled firmly above 82.00the Reserve Bank of Index (RBI) has kept its repo rate unchanged at 6.5%. Out of six Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members team, five voted for maintaining the status-quo. The street was anticipating a 25 basis point (bps) rate hike as India's inflation rate at 6.44% is well-above the desired rate. RBI Governor Shaktikanta decided to keep rates steady considering the contagion risks from the global banking fiasco. Apart from that, recent jump in oil prices are sufficient enough to impact the economic prospects.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions between the United States and China are keeping risk-sensitive assets on toes. S&P500 futures have extended their losses after two consecutive bearish trading sessions. The US Dollar Index (DXY) is aiming to extend its gains further above 102.20 amid improved appeal for safe-haven assets.

Going forward, the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data will remain in the spotlight. Soaring expectations of softening of the US labor market and economic slowdown due to the maintenance of higher interest rates by the Federal Reserve (Fed) have deepened fears of recession. Lower Job Openings data and economic slowdown are aiming for weak labor market data on Good Friday.

As per the expectations, the US economy added 240K jobs in March lower than the former release of 311K. The Unemployment Rate is seen unchanged at 3.6%. The major catalyst that will hog the limelight is the Labor Cost Index data, which is expected to accelerate by 0.3%, higher than February’s jump of 0.2%.