The rupee depreciated 20 paise to 95.95 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Monday (September 28, 2026), as the greenback strengthened further and foreign fund outflows continued unabated amid the ongoing West Asia conflict.

Forex traders said elevated global crude oil prices put further pressure on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.89 against the American currency and lost further ground to touch 95.95, registering a loss of 20 paise from its previous closing level.

On Friday (September 25, 2026), the rupee appreciated 24 paise to close at 95.75 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, traded at 101.11, up 0.15%.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading higher by 2.31% at $106.81 per barrel in futures trade.

“Despite the Brent oil for November series being higher due to U.S. President Donald Trump rejecting the peace proposal from Iran, the rupee is set to open at around 95.80 and is expected to remain in the range of 95.50 to 96.00 with the RBI continuing to hold the 96.00 of the range,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

Mr. Bhansali said Brent remained firmly elevated above the $100 mark, continuing to pose an underlying threat to India’s import bill and foreign exchange reserves.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tanked 730 points to 73,170.12 in early trade, while the Nifty dropped 231.50 points to 22,908.95.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,693.93 crore on a net basis on Friday (September 25, 2026) according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, India’s forex reserves dropped $14.881 billion to $765.901 billion during the week ended September 18 due to a fall in foreign currency assets, according to the RBI data released on Friday (September 25, 2026).

The rupee stayed weak, sliding 11 paise to 95.84 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday (September 24, 2026), as geopolitical uncertainties led to a sharp surge in crude oil prices and pushed U.S. bond yields as well as the greenback higher.

Forex traders said the inflow of foreign capital failed to support the local currency due to the selling pressure in the domestic equity market and a strengthening American currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.84 against the American currency and stayed under pressure, registering a loss of 11 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee ended Wednesday’s (September 23, 2026) session 11 paise lower at 95.73 against the U.S. dollar, a day after appreciating 16 paise.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, traded at 100.87, up 0.06%.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading lower by 0.97% but remained elevated at $102.08 per barrel compared to the roughly $72 per barrel level from late February before the Iran war.

According to analysts, oil prices that began stabilising in the last few sessions rose again past $100 a barrel due to a lack of diplomatic progress over the West Asia peace after the U.S. and Iranian officials met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

President Donald Trump, during an address to the annual gathering, threatened that the U.S. might “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if a deal couldn’t be made.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 506.43 points or 0.68% to 74,321.82, while the Nifty fell 181.00 points or 0.77% to 23,266.15.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth ₹1,617.45 crore on a net basis on Wednesday (September 23, 2026), according to exchange data.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday (September 15, 2026) as concerns over supply disruptions persisted after attacks on Saudi Arabian energy ​infrastructure left the kingdom’s East-West pipeline offline and cast doubt on efforts to ‌ease shipping risks in the Gulf.

West Asia war LIVE on September 15, 2026

Brent crude futures rose $1.37, or ​1.3%, to $107.05 a barrel at 0406 GMT, while U.S. West ⁠Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.53, or 1.51%, at $102.92 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose more than 1% in the previous session.

Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen launched fresh attacks ‌on Saudi Arabia on Monday (September 14, 2026), while Gulf Arab states postponed planned discussions with Iran, fuelling concerns that the Middle East conflict ‌could widen and disrupt global oil supplies.

The Houthis carried out ‌a ⁠missile and drone attack on the Khamis Mushait military airbase ⁠in southern Saudi Arabia, hitting aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots in retaliation for Saudi strikes in Yemen.

This followed attacks on Friday (September 11, 2026) on Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh blamed ​on Iranian-backed fighters in Iraq, ‌that disrupted the country’s East-West pipeline, which allows oil exports to bypass the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

“Oil traders are treating every fresh attack or infrastructure hit as incremental supply risk, while staying highly sensitive to ‌any sign that the East-West pipeline or Hormuz flows could normalise,” ​said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz dropped to fewer than ⁠10 transits a day over the weekend, from a 10-day average of 14, raising concerns over a route that typically carried about one-fifth of global ‌oil supplies before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.

Saudi Arabia could begin to exhaust oil available for export within days unless it restores operations on the East-West pipeline, potentially removing as much as 4% of global oil supply from the market, according to Saudi buyers and traders.

The world’s biggest exporter has used the pipeline to reroute ‌around 4 million barrels per day — around 4% of global supply — to the port ​of Yanbu on the Red Sea.

“Plenty of uncertainty remains over the extent of damage and the duration of the ⁠outage for the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Prices are likely to remain ⁠well supported until we get clarity,” ING analysts said in a note.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday (September 11, 2026) that Kyiv was ‌ready to support a U.S. proposal for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire on energy sites only if Washington could ensure Moscow was genuinely ready to ​end its war on Ukraine.

The rupee gained 28 paise to close at nearly two-month high of 94.94 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) on robust domestic growth, controlled fiscal slippage and portfolio-related inflows.

Forex traders said recent MSCI-linked inflows are offering temporary support to the rupee.

Moreover, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) might have intervened to support the domestic currency, they said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.06 and touched an intraday high of 94.79 and a low of 95.10 during the session.

At the end of Tuesday’s trading session, the rupee was quoted at 94.94 (provisional), higher by 28 paise from its previous close.

On Monday, the rupee settled 21 paise higher at 95.22 against the U.S. dollar.

“The Indian rupee gained on possible intervention by the RBI and upbeat macroeconomic data. However, weak domestic markets and a surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains,” said Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst, Mirae Asset ShareKhan.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.58, higher by 0.15%.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 1.97% at $92.27 per barrel in futures trade.

“We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias amid rising crude oil prices on the back of renewed geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Hawkish comments from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh may also pressurise the rupee.

“However, any de-escalation of tensions may support the rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from ISM manufacturing PMI and JOLTS job openings data from the U.S.,” Mr. Choudhary said, adding that the USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 94.65 to 95.25.

On the domestic equities market front, Sensex dipped 12.99 points to settle at 76,944.28, while Nifty fell 24.60 points to 24,055.80.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth ₹7,985.88 crore on a net basis on Monday, according to exchange data.

FPIs invested around $3.1 billion in August, their strongest monthly inflow in 23 months and the second consecutive month of net buying.

However, foreign investors remain net sellers of around $24.6 billion so far in 2026.

On the macroeconomic front, India’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected 7.8% in the April-June quarter, showing resilience in the face of concerns that the war in Iran and resulting global economic uncertainty could weigh on growth.

Meanwhile, the central government’s fiscal deficit for 2026-27 stood at 26.8% of the full-year target at the end of July, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Monday.

The deficit was at 29.9% of Budget Estimates (BE) of 2025-26 for the first four months of the previous financial year.

The rupee depreciated 32 paise to an all-time low of 95.20 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Thursday (April 30, 2026), weighed down by elevated Brent crude oil prices, hovering around $122 per barrel, and strong American currency.

Forex traders said the USD/INR pair may see further downside, as rising crude oil prices are likely to sharply impact India’s import costs, while concerns over potential wider conflict in West Asia are fuelling investor anxiety.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar added to gains after the US FED Reserve kept rates unchanged. Safe-haven demand was also boosted by another diplomatic setback between Washington and Tehran.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95.01 against the U.S. dollar, then lost some ground and touched an all-time low of 95.20 against the U.S. dollar in initial trade, registering a fall of 32 paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday (April 29), the rupee depreciated 20 paise to close at an all-time low of 94.88 against the U.S. dollar.

“The main effect on the rupee has been from the rising oil prices, which touched $120 per barrel and looked headed for further upside as the U.S. continues with its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran does not allow any ship/tanker to pass through the Strait of Hormuz,” said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01% higher at 98.96.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading higher by 3.16% at $121.76 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex tumbled 821.79 points to 76,674.57 in early trade, while the Nifty dived 287.3 points to 23,890.35.

Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth ₹2,468.42 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.