A cashier checks Indian rupee notes inside a room at a fuel station in Ahmedabad.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS
The rupee appreciated 25 paise to close at 86.33 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday (January 22, 2025), supported by positive domestic equities and soft U.S. dollar index.
Forex traders said the rupee is likely to witness high volatility with a negative bias ahead of key events in the global and domestic economic landscape.
Moreover, the overall uncertainty about the global economy continued to weigh on both currencies and commodities, keeping investors on edge.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 86.56 against the greenback. During the day, the local unit touched an intraday high of 86.30 and a low of 86.71.
It finally closed at 86.33 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar, up 25 paise from its previous close.
On Tuesday (January 21, 2025), the rupee fell 13 paise to 86.58 against the U.S. dollar.
“We expect the rupee to remain largely weak on underlying strength in the U.S. dollar and overall weakness in the domestic markets. Importer demand for dollars may also pressurise the rupee. However, any extended sell-off in crude oil may support the rupee at lower levels,” Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said.
Mr. Choudhary further noted that markets may see some volatility on incoming statements and announcements by the Trump administration. “USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 86.20 to 86.65,” he added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading down 0.15% to 107.89 as traders pondered over the Trump Tariff Plan.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.48% to $79.67 per barrel in futures trade.
Crude oil prices had fallen due to fears of tough US policies and had touched $78 per barrel, a 4% decline from recent highs following President Trump’s mention of increasing U.S. oil output.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 566.63 points, or 0.75%, to settle at 76,404.99 points, while the Nifty rose 130.70 points, or 0.57%, to 23,155.35 points.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets on Tuesday, as they offloaded shares worth ₹5,920.28 crore, according to exchange data.
Published – January 22, 2025 04:47 pm IST
