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The rupee pared back its initial gains and settled 3 paise lower at 94.92 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Monday (October 19, 2026), weighed down by a sharp fall in domestic equity markets and a recovery in crude oil prices.
Also read | Rupee rises 9 paise to 94.80 against U.S. dollar in early trade
The rupee snapped its six-session winning streak and settled in negative territory amid continued pressure from foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows and elevated crude oil prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 94.90 against the American currency. In intraday trade, it touched a high of 94.75 and a low of 94.97 against the American unit.
The rupee settled at 94.92 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a loss of 3 paise from its previous close.
On Friday (October 16, 2026), the rupee continued its upward momentum for the sixth straight session, settling 10 paise higher at 94.89 against the U.S. dollar, supported by the Reserve Bank of India’s measures to curb demand for dollars in the spot market.
During the week ended October 16, the Indian rupee appreciated approximately 2%, supported by RBI’s measures to manage dollar demand.
“RBI measures may help stabilise short-term currency movements, but a sustainable recovery will depend on lower oil prices, improved foreign capital flows and easing external pressures,” said Gaurav Garg, Head – Research, Lemonn.
Garg further noted that though the rupee’s recovery is encouraging, its sustainability depends on whether global and domestic fundamentals improve alongside RBI support.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.09% at 101.93.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 1.17% at $108.58 per barrel in futures trade.
“We expect the rupee to trade with a positive bias on overall weakness in the dollar and softening of US treasury yields. However, elevated crude oil prices and FII outflows may cap sharp upside,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset Sharekhan.
On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex tumbled 876.37 points to settle at 73,852.90, while the Nifty dropped 257.20 points to 22,888.95.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers and purchased equities worth ₹1,165.92 crore on a net basis on Friday (October 16), according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, according to RBI data released on Friday (October 16), India’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $8.578 billion to $726.027 billion during the week ended October 9.
In the previous reporting week, the reserves had dropped by $12.952 billion to $734.606 billion.
Published – October 19, 2026 04:37 pm IST
