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The Indian stayed weak for the fourth straight session and closed 8 paise lower at 90.28 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday (January 5, 2026), weighed down by a firm American currency and subdued equity market sentiment.
Forex traders said that the renewed geopolitical uncertainties after the U.S. military intervention in Venezuela fuelled dollar demand worldwide even though the falling crude oil prices supported the Indian currency at lower level.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.21 and touched the intra-day low of 90.50 during the session before ending at 90.28 (provisional) against the greenback, 8 paise weaker compared to the previous closing level.
This was the fourth consecutive day of fall for the Indian currency, which has lost 53 paise since December 30, 2025, when it closed at 89.75 a dollar.
The rupee settled lower by 22 paise at 90.20 against the U.S. dollar on Friday (January 2), a day after losing 10 paise on Thursday (January 1). It had lost 13 paise on the last day of the previous calendar year.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Commodities Research, Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee fell on Monday (January 5) amid geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.
The U.S. dollar index strengthened amid safe-haven demand, however, weakness in crude oil prices and FII inflows on Friday (January 2) provided a cushion to the rupee.
Mr. Choudhary said that the declining crude oil prices may support the rupee at lower levels. “Any intervention by the RBI may also support the rupee. Traders may take cues from ISM manufacturing PMI data from the U.S. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 90 to 90.60,” he said.
The U.S. has carried out a military operation in Venezuela and deposed President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.24% higher at 98.39.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.36% lower at $60.53 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex declined 322.39 points or 0.38% to close at 85,439.62, while the Nifty fell 78.25 points or 0.30% to 26,250.30.
Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers, picking up equities worth ₹289.80 crore on Friday (January 2), according to exchange data.
The latest RBI data released on Friday (January 2) showed India’s forex reserves jumped by $3.293 billion to $696.61 billion in the week to December 26.
The overall kitty had increased by $4.368 billion to $693.318 billion in the previous reporting week.
Published – January 05, 2026 05:15 pm IST
