Rupee falls 8 paise to 90.98 against U.S. dollar

The rupee depreciated 8 paise to 90.98 against the American currency in early trade on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), as strong dollar demand from metal importers and persistent foreign fund outflows dented investor sentiment.

Forex traders said rising geopolitical uncertainty, including renewed U.S. expansionary signals, has increased risk aversion and kept emerging market currencies under pressure.

Moreover, a sluggish domestic stock market triggered by an exodus of foreign capital, they said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.91 and lost ground to trade at 90.98 against the greenback, down 8 paise from its previous close.

On Monday (January 19), the rupee depreciated by 12 paise to close at 90.90 against the greenback, a tad above its record low closing level. On December 16, 2025, the rupee reached its lowest intra-day level of 91.14 and its lowest closing level of 90.93 against the American currency.

“The U.S. Supreme Court will be giving a decision on the legality of the Trump Tariffs, which will affect the world markets directly. Presently, all the markets are in risk-off mode with Gold and Silver getting bought as safe havens,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.44% lower at 98.95.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.11% higher at $64.01 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 311.33 points to 82,934.85 in early trade, and the Nifty dropped 99.5 points to 25,486.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹3,262.82 crore on Monday (January 19), according to exchange data.

“Foreign investors have withdrawn more than $3 billion from Indian equities so far in January, and the steady outflow has made the rupee increasingly sensitive to even modest dollar demand. With capital moving out, stability becomes harder to defend,” CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari said.

Mr. Pabari further noted that the ongoing global uncertainty, combined with a sustained break above 91.07, could pave the way for a move toward the 91.70–92.00 zone, unless offset by active intervention from the RBI. On the downside, any corrective move is likely to find initial support in the 90.30–90.50 range.