The rupee breached 90-levels against the greenback for the first time on Wednesday (December 3, 2025), falling 6 paise to 90.02 in early trade, as banks kept buying U.S. dollars at higher levels and Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) outflows continued.

However, a weaker dollar index and a fall in global crude oil prices cushioned against a steeper decline, according to forex traders.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 89.96 against the dollar and slipped to a record intra-day low of 90.15 before recovering some ground to trade at 90.02, down 6 paise from its previous close.

On Tuesday (December 2, 2025), the rupee settled 43 paise down at an all-time closing low of 89.96 against the U.S. dollar, largely owing to continued short-covering from speculators and sustained importer demand for the American currency.

“The rupee has been weakening with the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wanting to help exporters and may have kept the dollar well bid in the past few days,” Anil Kumar Bhansali, head of treasury and executive director, Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP, said.

“Nationalised banks were buying dollars at higher levels consistently yesterday (December 2, 2025)… There was a deal at 90.0050 after the close of market hours on the trading platform. The stalled India-U.S. trade talks and heavy Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) outflows are causing this fall in rupee despite a weakening dollar index,” Mr. Bhansali said.

Mr. Bhansali said the rupee might hit 91 levels in this cycle if the RBI support eases at 90.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting starts on Wednesday (December 3, 2025) and the interest rate decision will be declared on December 5 ahead of the Fed interest rate decision on December 10.

“A rate cut by the RBI could invite further selling of the rupee,” Mr. Bhansali added. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.13% lower at 99.22.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.03% lower at $62.43 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 165.35 points to 84,972.92 in early trade, while Nifty was down 77.85 points to 25,954.35.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹3,642.30 crore on Tuesday (December 2, 2025), according to exchange data.

The rupee weakened by 7 paise to 89.43 against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Friday (November 28, 2025) amid a strong greenback and higher crude oil prices in the international market.

According to forex experts, the Indian currency was also weighed down by the withdrawal of foreign funds even as investors moved cautiously, awaiting the GDP growth numbers for the July-September period to be announced later in the day.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.41. It slipped further to trade at 89.43 against the greenback in initial deals, registering a loss of 7 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee depreciated 14 paise to settle at 89.36 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was 0.04% higher at 99.56.

Analysts attributed the strength in the greenback to its increased demand from importers as well as banks for month-end trade payment settlements.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.41% to $63.60 per barrel in futures trade.

On the domestic equity market front, the Sensex rose 91.01 points to 85,811.39 in early trade, while Nifty went up 18.85 points to 26,234.55.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth ₹1,255.20 crore on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The rupee fell 7 paise to 88.77 against the dollar in early trade on Monday (November 3, 2025), weighed down by higher crude oil prices and continuous outflow of foreign capital amid uncertainties over global trade.

According to forex traders, negative sentiment in domestic equities also pressured the Indian currency, even though a weak American currency provided some cushion at a lower level.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 88.73 and slipped further to trade at 88.77 against the greenback, down 7 paise from its previous closing level.

The rupee had ended 1 paisa lower at 88.70 against the dollar on Friday, a day after crashing 47 paise on Thursday, following the commentary of U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04% to 99.59.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.31% to ₹64.97 per barrel in futures trading.

On the domestic equity market front, Sensex declined 258.83 points or 0.31% to 83,679.88 in early trade, while the Nifty fell 47.95 points or 0.19% to 25,674.15.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth ₹6,769.34 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The RBI data released on Friday showed the country’s forex reserves dropped by $6.925 billion to $695.355 billion during the week ended October 24. The reserves had increased by $4.496 billion to $702.28 billion during the previous week.

On the macroeconomic front, the Union government’s fiscal deficit stood at 36.5% of the full-year target at the end of the first half of FY26, according to data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) on Friday.

In the first six months of the previous financial year, the gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue was 29% of the Budget Estimates (BE) of 2024-25.