Rising for the seventh straight session, the rupee appreciated 31 paise to close at 85.67 (provisional) against the US dollar on Monday, wiping off all its losses in 2025, supported by a positive trend in domestic equity markets and fresh foreign capital inflows.
Besides, lower global crude price levels and continuing weakness in the greenback also bolstered sentiments, traders said. However, lurking risks — ranging from liquidity constraints to reciprocal tariff implementations — continue to pose challenges for the local unit, they added.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.93, then touched an intraday high of 85.49 and a low of 86.01 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 85.67 (provisional), registering a gain of 31 paise from its previous closing level. On Friday, the rupee appreciated 38 paise to close at 85.98 against the US dollar.
This is the seventh straight session of gain for the rupee, during which it has added 154 paise.
The local unit has recovered all its losses for 2025. On December 31, 2024, the rupee closed at 85.64 against the greenback.
“The Indian rupee recouped yearly losses as foreign banks and exporters sold the dollars ahead of the financial year-end adjustment, while state-level banks remained aside from buying amid the RBI’s USD/INR swap,” Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.
Parmar further noted that the sentiments turned positive ahead of the US representative visiting India ahead of April 2, reciprocal tariff implementations. Moreover, the foreign funds buying in domestic equities also well supported the rupee.
In the near term, the spot USD/INR is having support at 85.20 and resistance at 86.05, he noted.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.09 per cent lower at 103.99.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.54 per cent to $72.55 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 1078.87 points, or 1.40 per cent, to settle at 77,984.38, while the Nifty advanced 307.95 points, or 1.32 per cent, to close at 23,658.35 points.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth `7,470.36 Crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country’s forex reserves increased by $305 Million to $654.271 Billion during the week ended March 14, the RBI said on Friday.
In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves rose by $15.267 Billion to $653.966 Billion and registered the sharpest weekly rise in two years.
The spike in foreign reserves was partly attributed to the $10 Billion forex swap done by the Reserve Bank of India.
The Indian equity market has witnessed a moderation in FPIs’ selling pressure with the outflows narrowing to `1,794 crore ($194 Million) last week, buoyed by easing global concerns and growing optimism around a potential de-escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
