The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07% to 97.61. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The rupee witnessed range-bound trading in morning deals on Monday (September 15, 2025) and depreciated 4 paise to 88.30 against the U.S. dollar, as tariff-led pressure on India’s exports weighed on investor sentiments.
Forex traders said the rupee traded in a tight range as it is caught between worries over U.S. trade tariffs, persistent foreign portfolio outflows, and hopes of a U.S. rate cut.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 88.25, then lost ground and touched a low of 88.30 against the U.S. dollar, registering a decline of 4 paise over its previous close.
On Friday (September 12, 2025), the Indian rupee recovered from all-time lows and settled for the day higher by 9 paise at 88.26 against the U.S. dollar.
“The rupee has been under constant pressure but for the likely intervention of the RBI which has helped in controlling volatility and preventing a quick depreciation. Recently RBI could have sold around $5-6 billion to support the rupee. These efforts are aimed at exacerbating international trade tensions and maintaining market confidence,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
Mr. Bhansali further noted that market attention has now shifted to what the FED will do on September 17, with expectations of a rate cut creating uncertainty around the dollar’s future strength.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.07% to 97.61.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.58% higher at $67.38 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex was up 93.81 points to 81,998.51 in early trade, while the Nifty rose 24.45 points to 25,138.45.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth ₹129.58 crore on Friday (September 12, 2025), according to exchange data.
The Reserve Bank data showed on Friday (September 12, 2025) that the country’s forex reserves jumped $4.038 billion to $698.268 billion during the week ended September 5 on the back of a sizable increase in value of gold reserves.
In the previous week, the overall reserves had jumped by $3.51 billion to $694.23 billion.
Meanwhile, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asserted that New Delhi must bring down its tariffs or face a “tough time” doing business with the U.S.
Mr. Lutnick made the comments during an interview on Saturday (September 13, 2025) when he was asked whether the U.S. is mismanaging “very valuable relationships” with “important allies” like India, Canada and Brazil with the tariffs imposed on these countries.
“The relationship is one way; they sell to us and take advantage of us. They block us from their economy, and they sell to us while we are wide open for them to come in (and) take advantage,” Mr. Lutnick said.
Published – September 15, 2025 10:15 am IST
