Rupee rises 37 paise to 85.61 per $, recovers 2025 losses
Mumbai: Rising for the seventh straight session, the rupee appreciated 37 paise to close at 85.61 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 85.61, registering a gain of 37 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.
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.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth Rs 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 Rs 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.
